Pursuit
by CarnileN
Summary: When he couldn't restore the world as he was told, Lucas gets another opportunity and enters into an unusual tournament to find the old enemy that destroyed his life, but his goals are slowly hindered by more people than he can handle. As Lucas unveils his story bit by bit, allies join his side as enemies try to stop him in this race to get his world back.
1. Before the journey

"No Lucas, I won't let you go, no matter how..."

Bla, bla, bla. I can't believe she keeps talking, why she is even trying to restrain me here. I just came to let her know that I was leaving, not to accept suggestions. Whatever, I should just leave it's getting late and the letter says that tomorrow is the last day they will accept more people.

Suddenly I feel a poke in my cheek that snaps me out of my thoughts and got me back to reality. "Are you even listening!" she asks in a voice that could easily break my ears.

"I already told you Kuma, I must go... I'm tired of waiting another miracle to happen," I tell her expecting comprehension from her, which is rather stupid.

"You know very well that the Magypsies are finding a way to get you to him,"

"They have already helped me; it's my turn to do something." I huff, we both know I'm right, she just doesn't want to acknowledge it "Just tell them I say thanks that's all, I have to leave now,"

"What I have to do to make you stay?" she acquires, albeit the real question is what I had to do to you do so she let me go.

"There's nothing to do, but thanks for the concern. Don't worry I'll back as soon as I can." Those are my last words before I get up from the chair and walk my way out of the Osohe Castle.

"I hope." She also gets up and walks up to me to give one last hug before leaving. I personally prefer that over her I-must-win-this-argue side. "Please take care, Lucas."

I nod to not make this chat longer and exit the castle walking over the downed gates that forms a small bridge along the river waving one last time in her direction.

Now the hardest part is coming, my dad, our link and determination have taken us to a strong father-son relation. How he is going to take the news that I am leaving for undetermined time, it is my question.

I stand a minute outside my home pondering my words one more time, take a deep breath and open the door.

There is my dad in the couch taking turns between watching some old photos and reading a book.

"Lucas, you finally came; it was about time, the dinner is ready," he tells me.

"How has been your day?" I ask him opening the discussion.

"I just arrived like an hour ago," Dad starts. "I went to visit Wes and…" He makes a stop to sigh "received bad news from Duster,"

Bad news from Duster? It looks like he has already informed my dad about the situation. After all it was not a bad idea to let Duster know I was leaving, he finished helping me with dad.

"Those 'bad' news have to do with me, right?" I emphasize the word 'bad'.

"Yes, Duster told me you wanted to leave,"

"He told you why?"

"He said that there were some details that would be better that you show them to me,"

I nod and run upstairs to where my room is, and start rummaging under my bed where I keep a letter, which is actually an invitation. When I find it I get up quickly and return to the kitchen where my dad is waiting for me.

I sit in my chair and slide the letter through the table into my dad's reach. He looks at it and then takes it. By the expression on his face I can tell that he is reading the remittent who I remember is from a person that's called "Master Hand"…funny, the letter was in a formal writing and this person writes some kind of alias.

"A fighting tournament…pretty interesting," he says with a hint of humor, I let him take his time to read the letter, when he finishes he simply slide it back to me. "Assuming this is not some kind of joke…" I hate when people do that, if it's uncommon for them, they instantly label it as a joke, fake or stupid. "Besides, what is that of 'another planet'? Don't you see this is just a joke from someone; probably Fuel."

Fuel… Yeah, as if my best friend were to write this letter in such formal way. I'm glad I didn't tell dad I got other letters, where it explained me about the location and some other facts of the fighting tournament. "Trust me, it's hard to explain, but this–" I point at the letter in his hands "–is legit.

"And what about the fighting part, it may be dangerous."

"First, yeah maybe, but it's a tournament only, not a death match, and second do you even remember what I did a couple of years ago: the Needles," I said. There are no more words for my dad to say. He will acknowledge I am right for sure.

"Yeah the Needles… but you're forgetting that at the very end you failed. Isn't what you always say?" Such words… he is right, I failed, everyone's hope was into me but I failed them. I huff and glare at him. Even if what he is saying is true he is still my dad, he knows very well those words, those memories are forbidden to talk about.

"Wow, what a way to hit a nerve!" I exclaim trying to hide my angriness however my face pretty much express it for me. "Still, I won't disappoint anyone this time; this is the opportunity I was waiting for. Anyway, you know me and you know how important this could be. I'll leave whether you like it or not…sorry," I whisper the last part.

He suddenly gets up from his chair and start walking toward me, his face is now serious. He stands in front of me emotionless, I frown at this sudden reaction but before I can say anything he get me in an embrace whispering something, "If you think this is necessary to do, I understand. I just don't want to see another member of this 'family' leaving… It's hard… But I still count on you. Take care," he finishes, his voice with a hint of sorrow.

I smile at him, "It is important, not just for me, though, for everyone. You too take care." Before I go to prepare my stuff, he asks me about my brother. I tell him everything is okay… and with that he says goodbye to… the both of us, per say.

Now it is all set; tomorrow as soon as the soon rises I'm leaving.

Now, what should I take? I grab a small suitcase that has always been forgotten in the corner of my room, "This is your moment to shine," I tell the suitcase.

I decide to pack some of my striped shirts, my beloved denim shorts and some other miscellaneous stuff.

"It looks like this is okay," I tell to myself, but a metal case in the corner of my eye tells me I'm wrong. I walk up to the case and open it then sigh, my brother, Claus' weapon: the thunder sword. I have used it a couple times since then.

I will take it.

"Besides you may need right with it?" I asked to myself… and I don't have to wait to get an answer.

'Yeah, for sure I will.'

Hearing the voice of Claus (well, mental voice) always make me cheer. I can see why he didn't talk in the whole day, normally when I'm stressed I don't like to get distracted or talked too much.

I'm now in my bed. I have always enjoyed sleeping; the calm of the room and how I can enter into a world where everything is good again, my family is always in there. However, there's not time to dream, since tomorrow will be a long day.


	2. Welcome Lucas

Standing in my front yard I decide not to say goodbye to my dad, my schedule is already tight enough; I just hope he's not surprised of not finding when he wake up in a couple of hours, I left a small note to make a few things clear to my dad.

The letter had the instructions of how I would get there; first I place the letter in the ground, and after pressing a button that somehow appeared besides the letter through the night, a blue light of the size of my feet appears, my instinct tells me to step in it and I was right.

The light starts covering my whole body along with my stuff; it feels like my body is getting torn apart… without the pain thankfully, a white light blinds me but the feeling doesn't last too much. I decide to open my eyes and I discover I'm now in my destination.

I glance in my surroundings. I arrived in some kind of field. In front of me is one of the biggest buildings I've ever seen in my life, with the words 'Smash Brothers' on it, obviously that is where I have to go, but before I enter, I see that I'm not in the middle of nothing as I can see a city in the distance, which looks pretty futuristic in my opinion.

When I open the door I can see the view from the outside was half the story: a huge reception area, two flights of stairs at each side of the reception, a fancy fountain in the middle of the hall and a pretty luxury-looking golden color that cover most of this place are the first things I can notice. But what really attract my attention is that there are mostly robots-like things walking through the hall.

'Wow, this place surpassed my expectations by a lot.'

Indeed.

'Talking' with my brother someone bumped into us, "Lucas?" A giant glove hovers in front of me; I mean…a giant glove!

I jump backwards, "What the hell…"

"You must be Lucas, from Nowhere Islands, right? We've been waiting for you to come. You are the last one to…"

I stop listening, let's see: what are the odds to bump into a giant talking hand? I suddenly feel stupid…Is this some kind of illusion I don't know what my dad would say of me talking to a stranger hand.

'Lucas? It looks like the hand is trying to attract your attention.'

"Ah, Lucas, is something wrong?" the hand asks, finally snapping me out of my deep thoughts.

"Uh? Oh! Excuse me, is just that I wasn't expecting to meet… a giant hand?"

It laughs, "I thought the letter would give you the hint." That means he or she (I think 'he' fits better) must be Master Hand. Was he really expecting to me to believe that he is a giant hovering glove by only reading his name?

"Alright... Where I should let this?" I ask pointing to where my suitcase is.

"I'll show you in a minute but I want to check something, would you please come with me,"

Master Hand says beckoning me to follow.

We don't walk too much (correction, he is hovering) until Master Hand stops in front of a metal room with windows in each side of the door. He opens the door and we both enter. It look that this is a training room, it has dummies all around it, some of those are burned or already worn, there are targets, too, around the room and at the end, a wall with a decent number of weapons from a simple banana peel ('I wonder what's that for_') _to bazookas.

"OK, you see that dummy in the middle of those three," Master Hand says pointing his giant finger to a group of dummies and I nod

"I want you to use one of your PSI attacks into that exact dummy without damaging the other two, understood?

PSI… how does he know? Hmm, he sent me the letter, and he is the owner of this crazy organization, so that must mean something. It still it surprises me a bit.

"Sure," He then proceeds to get out of the room and I can see him watching me from one of the windows.

Now, what should I do? PK Love would be entertaining.

'Yeah it would be if you had control it… besides is your most powerful attack, better keep it for later.'

You're right, here I go.

I decide to go with a PK Thunder; a PK Fire would burn down the three dummies. I raise my left hand at the height of my brow. My hand starts shooting out sparks, and moments later I let go the powerful electric attack into my target. A white light fills the room and it's over for the poor dummy, which is now in ashes.

I turn to Master Hand, who gives me a 'thumb' up; I shrug at his expression as I open the door.

"Good job, Lucas, now let's go, I'll tell you where your room is," he says and we go back to the lobby. "Alright, this Alloy will you show where is your room and how to get there,"

So the robots are named Alloy, noted. The Alloy beckons me to follow, it takes me into a couple of enormous halls, into different rooms and after crossing a green area I finally see what looks like the rooms section. We pass some rooms with different numbers PR8, PR9, PR0 and we stop in the next one: PS1

Before the Alloy leaves me, it gives me a small card with my name, which I suppose it is to open the door since instead of a doorknob it have a slot with an image of how to slice the card properly. I know this because in the era of the Pigmask army I got to see one of these.

As I enter in my new room every meaning of fancy is now replaced by what I'm looking at. The place is enormous, a king sized bed a couple meters away from the door; in front of the bed a luxurious plasma TV supported by a wooden bureau; there's also an opened room aside the bed, where I think the bathroom is at, but my amazement fades when Claus decides to speak up.

'Lucas, I think we're not going to be alone in here, there's another bed at the end of the room.'

When I listen Claus' words my sight shifts to the other side of the room, where indeed another bed is in there. I curse under my breath. A roommate…I didn't see that coming. I just hope he or she is the silent type and not an annoying one that never shut up, I don't have time to deal with people like that.

I start unpacking my stuff, accommodating each thing carefully and filling the drawers aside my bed. I lie down in the bed and try to relax and plan the next thing to do, but before the calmness invades the room, I hear the door unlocking. I decide to open one of my eyes.

The door half-opens, a boy of my age, I would say, enters…skipping into the room with a small box in his hand. Since the bed where I'm is on the opposite side the door he doesn't see me until his red cap falls. He turns to pick it up and his eyes fixes on me. Now that he's facing me I can get a better view of him. We have similar clothing, only that the colors are a little different, with a blue and yellow striped shirt, denim shorts, a pair of red shoes and the red cap I mentioned.

"Uh, you finally came, I thought I was going to stay without a roommate," he said picking his cap up. "By the way, the name's Ness and you are…Lucas?"

'He seems nice'

"Nice" doesn't mean innocent, Claus.

I just nod. I think he was expecting an actual answer. He leaves the small box over his bed and walks up to the bathroom, then turns to me before closing the door "Let me change my clothes and I'll take you to the dining hall, am sure you are hungry,"

That would not be bad, in fact I'm starving. "Sure," I say. Ness then proceeds to change his clothes.

"Alright," he says opening the door of the bathroom. "Let's go,"

We exit the room, Ness closes it and we start walking across the hallway. "So, tell me Lucas, what food would you like, we have everything you can imagine."

"I don't really care, anything would be fine." …As long as I don't have to sit with him.

"OK… and do you have any reason to come or you just came for the experience and all of that?"

I sigh letting him hear me. The reason I came here…I will have to lie; the truth would only grow his curiosity. "You're a very curious person, and the experience,"

We continue our walk through numerous corridors until Ness stops in front of a double door, he turns his head then motions me to follow, he pushes the doors inwards to reveal another unnecessarily big dining hall. There's around 50 tables but not more than 20 people using them.

"Come in, so you can choose what to eat," Ness said

He leads to me counter where there is a wide variety of accompaniments in which looks like a salad bar. Over the counter a menu with the most requested dishes in this week and below that: the word 'menu' with the words 'Whatever you want'. That's silly…at least Ness said the truth, _"…everything you imagine."_

I stand in front of the counter thinking. I would order omelets but the only ones worth eating are my mom's. "I think I will eat a cheese sandwich," I say.

'I know the omelets bring you sad memories, but when this is over, I'm sure mom can cook a bunch of omelets for us!"

That would be nice… Hmm, I don't want to sound negative, but let's focus on "our" problem, then in restoring our world.

"You have infinite choices and you choose a simple sandwich," Ness said, and I roll my eyes.

One of the Alloy I saw earlier appears, Ness approaches to it. "I would like to order a steak,

please,"

"Okay smasher Ness, in a minute your order will be ready," The Alloy said in a monotone mechanical voice.

Now is my turn. As Ness strides behind me, I walk up to the counter to face another Alloy; this one is a green one with the shape of a ball, a white light in the center and it is wearing a chef hat. "I would like a cheese sandwich," I say to the robot in front of me.

"OK smasher… Starting recognition, this may take some minutes…" The Alloy says.

"Newcomer Lucas!" I hear Ness shout from behind me. "Stupid Alloy…"

"Smasher Lucas, your order will be ready in a minute,"

A minute later (literally) our dishes are on the counter, Ness picks up his stake, and I my sandwich. He tells me to come with him… something I would not like, he will just ask questions and try to appear friendly to me. However, I need to know the people I am living with, I may need a couple favors in the future.

In our way to the table, I can get a better view of the other people ('more like creatures') in the room; everyone is quite unusual. The first one to bring my attention is a green… ergh… dinosaur maybe? He have a big nose, along with eyes; light red spikes on his back and a disturbingly long tongue that he is using to devour all the food in his plate. Also accompanying him in the table, a small marshmallow-looking thing, pink with rounded hands, more big eyes and red shoes; instead of using a tongue, it is using his mouth to soak up all the food.

'Do you think they are fighters too?'

I don't know but the thought of getting soaked up is not nice.

I return my attention to Ness as I can see he finally decide where to eat, he sits down and before I do the same, I take a look at the people on the table… more unusual people.

'I would say 'unusual' is an understatement'

There are two persons on the table (if one of them can be considered a person), one of them albeit is not a green dinosaur or marshmallow, still has a strange sense of style. Said person is sporting a green tunic (which I can barely notice it is a tunic due to his sitting position), a brown belt, white meshes in his arms and legs. Like me he has blonde hair but I can't see his hairstyle very well due to his green hat that have the shape of a Christmas hat just without the cotton ball.

Aside him a dog-like creature: he has blue fur covering most of his body with the exception of his torso fur which is white and longer, along with this he have a spike in the center of his chest; his head is very similar to a dog's, with long pointy ears and a long nose; instead of hands he have paws, each one with a spike over it. Another thing that outstands are his eyes, they are red. He also has a black mask-looking line surrounding his eyes and ending in the back of his head along with two cylinder shaped black protuberances that one could easily confuse with ears, though I'm sure they are not. I have to say he's a quite cool-looking dog, hmph.

After Ness, I take a sit aside him. "Link, Lucario, he is Lucas. He is a newcomer like you Luc, but he just arrived. Lucas; Link, a former smasher, and Lucario, a newcomer," Ness said pointing to the 'green lover' as Link and the blue dog as Lucario.

"Hello Lucas, welcome to the Smash mansion," Link says.

"Hi," I respond.

I was expecting greeting from Lucario either but instead I look at him to see him with his eyes closed. I frown, now what is he doing? "Lucario, you don't have to do that each time you meet someone," Link says, rolling his eyes.

No more than 10 seconds later, Lucario opens his eyes again and turn to Ness, who nodded; he then turns to me to finally speak up. "Welcome, Lucas, nice to meet you," Lucario says motioning with his hand.

"Likewise," I say.

"I don't know you guys, but I think this is the part where you have to ask him stuff and that," Ness says. HMmm I think he tried to sound funny…which he didn't.

"Yeah Ness… Lucas, I normally ask this to every newcomer because Master Hand, you know the giant glove, usually forgets it; do you already have you first exhibition match scheduled?" Link asks.

Match? 'The fighting tournament'

"Uh no, I don't,"

"I am sure Master Hand forgot that little detail, but I'll tell him later so you can have the rest of the day for you,"

"OK,"

"So Lucas, do you any special skills or something? Just wondering," Lucario asked.

Should I let them know…I don't know if it's a good idea… Although, I'm sure they'll discover it eventually. "Yes, I am a physic. Well, my powers come from the mind,"

I can see that Link and Lucario have a slightly surprised expression in their face.

"Awesome, just like Ness," Link says. Ness, a psychic too? I thought the only psychics came from the Nowhere Islands. "How do you call it, Ness?"

"PSI,"

"PSI!" I couldn't stop myself from exclaiming that… how does he know PSI?

"Yeah, it's kind of a long history maybe for another moment…" Ness says, also his voice went from normal to a bit lower volume which caused silence.

"Well, I'm done eating, Link you should check that match stuff with MH," Lucario breaks the silence.

"Sure, I will see you later guys and nice to meet ya Lucas," Link says, picking up his tray and walking away.

Lucario also gets up from the table, "I have to show something to Ness, do you need something before we leave?"

'It's not a coincidence, Lucas…? After Lucario seemed to scan you, he wants to speak with Ness privately. Or is it just me?'

I know, strange… it can be cool-looking and that but I think I will have to keep an eye on Lucario. Show something to Ness… obviously his words won't reflect his future actions. "I'm OK, I will go to my room, I haven't finished unpacking," I tell the dog.

"Great, I will see you later Lucas, remember if you need something just tell me," Ness said before also getting up from the table.

I walk away; in fact I'm kind of tired already, since Claus is now inside of me, I feel like my mental stamina is consumed a lot faster.

I continue my way through numerous corridors trying to find the correct path to my room. After 15 or something minutes of just walking aimlessly I finally found it: the room PS1. I open the door with the card the Alloy gave me earlier today and I don't think twice; as soon as the door opens, I flop onto my bed.


	3. Hope

"Are you sure, I mean is that even possible?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen something like this in anyone else,"

A pair of voices interrupts my slumber. I can tell one of them is Ness but the other doesn't seem familiar. The best now would be to remain with the eyes closed; they will continue their conversation without knowing that I'm aware of it.

"Now, is there something?"

"Ness, I need silence. I have to concentrate the most I can, his aura and mind are not normal…"

It is Lucario. What is he doing here and what are they are talking about? ...I better keep listening.

'Lucas, I feel dizzy...'

Dizzy? No offense, but technically you are not alive, how can you feel like that?

'I know, dizzy, like when someone is trying to look into your thoughts… or read your mind–'

Read your mind? Lucario! As I realize that, my eyes shoot open and I get out of the bed. I was right. Adjacent to where I was sleeping I see Lucario sitting and Ness at his side standing with a nervous look in his face.  
>"What are you doing!" I demand an answer.<p>

"A-ah is not w-what it looks like," he is really bad at lying... Ness' brain won't come up with an answer; I turn to Lucario, expecting a lie, though.

Lucario moved both of his arms in signal to me to calm down. "Lucas don't worry, you were thrashing around in your sleep, I was just checking you were okay,"

'Liar!'

"Oh really? Well, reading my mind is OK! Now tell me the truth!"

Even when Lucario is still calmed, Ness keeps pushing himself to say something. At this point they will say the truth soon, but to my bad luck someone arrives.

"Link!"

"Hey Ness..." He trails off. "Perhaps, I'm interrupting something,"

"Yes, you are!"

'Of course you are'

"No, we are OK, do you need something?" Lucario asks, and there it goes, they will ignore my question.

"Not me exactly," Link then turns to me. "I got you a fight Lucas, will you accept it?" Ness and the blue dog looked at me; I think they also got a little surprised by the sudden fight request.

'A fight, we just arrived today! They didn't even tell us. You are not going to accept it, right?'

It would help to know about the "tournament" concept… "I do."

'Really...?'

"Great!" Link and Ness exclaims. I'm sure the latter one is just glad he will not have to answer my question, though. "I will tell Master Hand, in the meantime you should take time left today to practice,"

"What time is it?" I ask to know how much time I was sleep." Nine o'clock," Lucario respond me. I sigh; I was more than five hours sleeping.

'The real problem is that we don't know how much time Lucario and Ness were here'

You are right...

"Well, I think I will take your suggestion. I will be in the training room," I tell to everyone on here, but then realize the only place I know is the dinning hall and my room.

"Do you want me to go?" Ness asks, "You are still new here; I would be able to show you the different training rooms. And besides it's easier to train with someone else."

Did he just offer himself to be my punching bag? Cool.

'Don't think like that Luke, you can ask him what he was doing with Lucario'

"Okay, as long as you don't get nosy." I grab Claus' thunder sword, which was under my bed and then place it on my pocket. But before turning to the door to leave I can clearly see Lucario whispering something to Ness. But what it is? The doubt is killing me!

We exit the room and Ness goes in front of me, leading the way. We walk through a couple of corridors before getting to the lobby; we go down the stairs, then to one of the doorways adjacent to the receptionist desk. There was a pair more of doors; he motions me to enter into the left one. The room almost looks the same as the one Master Hand took me into.

"Here it is, my favorite training room, it has..." I didn't ask for his favorite room, besides this is the same as the other room.

'Lucas, you should listen, he is telling you about the controls'

I don't need to know the contro-

'Lucas, please...'

Okay, okay, I'll listen to him, then blast a couple of targets and finally, I will do the questions.

'Sounds okay to me'

"...and that is everything you need to know," Ah! What do I say now?

'Just ask him for the generic stage with a group targets'

Alright, thanks. "So, what you want?" Ness asks me.

"I will go for the generic stage with a group of targets." He nods to my request and walks up to the wall next to the door where there is a panel, he presses a couple of buttons and with a beep the room surroundings us starts changing.

We are now standing on a big blue platform, the walls stayed white. From the ground a row of ten dummies rise slowly. "There it is, if you use a weapon we have anyone you can think of,"

"I have my own one, by the way I suggest you to stay behind me," I tell him; I wouldn't really mind if he gets in the path of my sword, though. He frowns before taking a seat on the floor not too far from me. Now that the path is free, I take the thunder sword's hilt out of my pocket; I stare at it for a few seconds. The times I have had to use–since Claus is gone–and confront it, this weapon has truly scared me.

I turn on the sword; at the same time I hear a low gasp coming from Ness while his gaze falls on Claus' sword. Normally I don't need to say whatever power I want to use thanks to the fact that Claus' mind plus mine is more than the concentration that I need, but this weapon is different, I would have to have a lot of times more mental power than I have to control it–something to this day I praise Claus for.

"PK Thunder!" I yell, at the same time the power quickly starts to run through my body, then to my arm to finally wind up in the sword before said weapon release a fearful thunder crushing every single one of the dummies, creating an explosion along with it that leaves a huge crater where my targets used to be, finally leaving stains and holes in the wall.

'Wow...'

"I already feel bad for whoever is going to fight you," Ness says.

My practice continued. As I told to my brother, I used most of my powers for the exception of PK Love, since Claus is with me I haven't been able to use it. Why? I do not know.

I'm growing tired and Ness, too, I can hear him yawning already. This looks like a good situation to reformulate my question, no one will interrupt this time. "I think we should leave, it's getting late..." he tells me. Not yet, though.

"Before we go I want to ask you something," as I say this I walk towards the door blocking any entrance or exit. Ness just gulps already knowing the question. "What were Lucario and you doing with me?" Ness gives me an unsure look, this time no one is going to stop him from telling me.

"Okay, I'll tell you, it's not a big deal," he says that but back in the room he wouldn't even talk "Lucario special power let him see the aura of whoever he wants–"

"Aura? What is that?" I ask him.

"Aura, as far as I know, is the life energy that every being carries, it can show whether a person have good or bad intentions, how they truly are, or how real they are," Ness tells me with inspiration in his eyes, but the question main question is not answered yet.

"Okay, and that leads to…"

"The time when Lucario met you he saw your aura–he does that with everyone– and saw something unusual in yours…he saw two auras, he didn't know a person could carry more than one, so we wanted to know why there were two,"

'So if he 'saw' two auras which are life energies, he may have seen me. He may ask you if you know something about that second aura, take that in mind'

"That's why you were in the room–in my bed–, you were trying to decipher that but Lucario said my mind was not normal, complicated." Suddenly I feel a huge change in my tone, the curiosity of knowing exactly what Lucario saw is what I want to discover.

"Exactly. You know, I find odd that second aura thing, do you have any idea about that?" Ness finally asks me what I as waiting for, but is he reliable? Tell to a stranger about my brother's curse. Anyhow, Ness is already seeing the doubt in my eyes, the silence and the fact that my gaze gives off the truth that I know about the double aura.

Before I open my mouth for the following explanation, someone knocks on the door and then opens it. "Ness, it's late already, you should go to your room," a person said, adding an unknown but funny accent to the sentence. It looks like he haven't seen me.

"Oh, sorry Mario, I was helping my new friend–" Did he just called me friend…? "Lucas. Lucas, he is Mario, one of the founders of the Smash Brothers," Ness points to Mario; he walks up to me and stretch out a hand.

Now that Mario is in front of me I can get a better look at him. He's wearing long denim pants with braces and a couple of yellow buttons. Below that, a long sleeve red shirt, white gloves; as Ness he is using a red hat with the letter 'M' in the middle. And remarkable mustache and blue eyes.

"Oh so you are Lucas, we thought you were not going to come, we are glad to have you here." Why everyone tells me the same thing? Stupid monotone society.

"Yeah, hello" I say taking his hand and shaking it.

"Brother!" Someone calls from outside the room, "There you are. I left my key in the bedroom-, so I was..." The person trails off when he sees me; I'm more than sure that he is calling brother to Mario, his attire is pretty much the same, the only difference is that he prefers the green and he's slimmer than Mario.

'They look so alike, just like us, even with the clothes…'

Yeah…

"Oh, he's Lucas, a newcomer. Lucas, my brother Luigi," Mario says to me. Luigi does the same as Mario, walks up to me and stretch my hand.

"Hi Lucas, ha-ha I thought you were not going to come," … "Glad to meet you," Luigi smiles to me; I can't help but return the gesture.

"Likewise,"

"Oh yeah, Mario, would you lend me your key? I left mine in the room," Luigi asks to Mario, who responds with a nod handing the keys to the taller brother. "See ya later guys," Luigi says before dashing off the room.

"Well, I'm going to sleep, you can stay here, it is okay, I was just reminding you that it was late already," Mario says as he place a hand in his mouth to cover a yawn.

"Right, thanks Mario, by the way," Ness says. "What time is it?"

"Sure, ah…twelve o'clock." Twelve already? Wow, the time went flying.

'The bad thing is that I can only imagine that your fight is early tomorrow'

Ours. I think I better go to sleep.

"Whew, it's late, anyway, thanks Mario, good night." Mario says the same and leaves the room. Ness then turns to me with sleepy eyes, "Come on Lucas, you're more than ready for tomorrow, let's go to sleep."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Finally in my room, the mattress is so comfy and big. I leave Claus' sword aside me, ready for tomorrow. The night, such a good moment in the day, after so much hard work I can finally rest peacefully. I must say that I'm a little eager for tomorrow's match, I haven't have a decent fight in quite some time. That must be why.

I turn my body to the opposite side of Ness', my sight slowly fades as my body is starting to fall in rest, and everything is so sile–

"Hey Lucas, are you still awake?" Of course…what I was expecting?

"Yeah," I say groaning. "what you want?"

"You didn't tell me the aura thing, you were going to say something." Ness is right, but I'm already regretting the thought telling him, I need a little more confidence, anyway, someone will eventually know.

"It's late, Ness, maybe other day."

"Oh, come on tell me–"

"No. Ness I'm tired, just sleep," I say and decide to not listen more from him, he huffed at my response. Now, finally I can sleep calm.

'Good night, Lucas'

Good night.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Lucas, Lucas, wake up!" Is Ness…again. He is shaking me to get up, why would not he let me sleep! "Lucas, I know you can hear me. Just wake up, remember you have a match." My eyes open slowly realizing that Ness is right…

With my left hand I push Ness out of my face–he was almost yelling in front of me–to get up from my bed, rub my eyes to let my sight prepared for the sunlight entering from the window.

I turn to Ness with sleepy eyes, he moves his arms in signal for me to hurry. I open the drawers aside my bed to get my clothes, and then enter into the bathroom, where I quickly change my clothes. When I start opening the door to exit, an arm appears to drag me out of the bathroom, it's Ness' who want to hurry me.

"Wait! My sword!" I tell him. He let go my arm and I take out Claus' sword from under the bed.

"Come on, it's getting late. Follow me," Ness says and dash out of the bedroom, I follow him through the large corridor, and then we enter into a lawn section to take the left exit of it. We wind up into a huge lounge, which at overview I notice several televisions with couches and tables in front of them… where I am? No idea.

"I thought you were going to lead me to my match," I say. Ness still looks around as if searching for something.

"It's here; I'm just searching for the exact section..." Ness continues looking around until he sees a group of people in front of a TV. "Aha! There it is,"

We walk up to the group of people. There must be at least twenty or so. When I enter into their sight most of them turn to me and I can hear some whispering. I don't care about them; I stand aside Ness, who is talking to Link and Lucario."Hey, Lucas, are you ready?" Link says.

"Yeah, I guess..."

I'm almost staring at Lucario in search of that gaze of him: the one trying to decipher me. "Good luck Lucas," he tells me, and I nod in response still wanting to know if he's trying to look my–how was it called?–aura. I wonder what he is thinking, but I have no time for that.

"Link, would you lead Lucas to the arena please," Ness says, taking a seat with Lucario. Will Ness tell him about yesterday?

'That would increase the pressure for telling them about me'

"I know..." I whisper to Claus.

'I think is not that bad, they seem like they can keep it, besides, someone have to know'

I was going to respond to Claus but a waving hand in front of me interrupts me. "Lucas? Let's go," I snap out of my thoughts and start following Link who is leading me into a backroom not far from the huge lounge. I find Master Hand as soon as I open the door; it looks like he was waiting for me.

"I wish you good luck, go out and show them what you can do, we'll be watching you from the other room," Link tells me. He pats me in the shoulder and leaves the place leaving me with Master Hand only.

We will be watching you from the other room...? What does that meant?

'Maybe that what the big TV is for'

Oh yeah, maybe that's why there were so much people... I sigh inwardly realizing this...

'Mmm, that won't help your stage fright ha-ha'

How can you laugh, is not funny. I better forget someone will be watching my performance.

'Someones...ha-ha'

Forgetting those lasts words I bring my attention to the hovering glove in front of me."Alright Lucas, safety first..." Using his whole hand, he gives a small badge–wait, my Courage badge, I forgot it, and it's already too late to return for it. "Put this on. This is the most important artifact for a fight. Instead of dealing or receiving damage from attacks, this will take your physical and mental stamina instead. Aside from that there is anything else left to explain… and the rules... well, anything goes," Master Hand says. I place the badge he gave me in my left forearm; it attached itself in my forearm.

"Now, stand in this pad, it will take you to the arena." MH presses a button in the wall and a similar light to the one in the invitation letter appears, much bigger, though. I step on it and a light starts covering me again. "Good luck," Master Hand says before the light coats me completely and vanishes me.

When I feel the teleporter have done its job I open my eyes. The place looks a little similar to the one Ness took me, it has some differences, though. The platform is flat; it has different tones of blue with details in it, nothing special... Oh my…!

'Beautiful...'

When I turn to my left there is nothing but... the space, beautifully stained with stars, what I think are galaxies and the eventual meteor traveling through the infinite. I'm one to appreciate this kind of things and this is incredible.

'I can't find any cameras, so it looks like you are safe from someone watching you'

At least I can't see them watching me.

I was so distracted with the environment that I don't notice my opponent in the center of the stage. I'm–again–amazed with whoever is in front of me. Am sure it is a person, standing around seven feet, a tough looking opponent is waiting for me. He has a robotic armor that covers all of his body, sporting what looks like a cannon in the right arm... He reminds me to...

'Me... Well, at least you already have some sort of experience'

His whole armor is orange and looks indestructible; it will be a hell of a work to win this. "Are you done looking? I'm eager to test the new guy's skills," he tells me, the voice seems a little strange but it must be the robotic armor only.

"Sure, whenever you want,"

"Alright, this is going to be a two stock match–or two lives, per say–, you lose a stock/life every time you fall or get thrown to the boundaries of the stage," a voice said. I can't figure out where it comes from. "Let's start. Three, two, one, go!"

I stay in my position for a second, to see what he is going to do. My opponent does the same, albeit he grabs his cannon and apparently start gathering energy around it, creating a blue sphere each second bigger.

'What are you doing, go get him!'

I rush towards him. When he sees me he jumps and shoots his cannon, my only reaction is to use PSI Shield. It breaks and stops the attack at the same time. Now is my turn. He's still in the air. My hand gets coated by fire, and then I jump and launch a stream of fire. Luckily for him, the fire passed by his side.

"Nice attempt, boy," he tells me just before he swings his cannon… and lands on my face. I can feel the effect of the badge already, making my body feel heavier.

My opponent lands to prepare another shot of his cannon. I don't hesitate. I use PK Freeze and release the ice attack midair to send ice spikes in his way. As the spikes entertain my opponent, I take out Claus' sword and switch it on. When my sight goes back to my opponent, I find him dashing towards me with a readied energy shot. He releases the attack. "PK Thunder!" I yell putting on action my practice yesterday, a small version of a thunder quickly comes out of the sword. It destroys the energy beam in collision and trespassed it. My opponent finds himself in a tight situation, he rolls to one side dodging my attack, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid the small explosion. He's now in the ground, so I run at full speed and try to stab him in the chest, but he jumps and spikes me into the ground with a downwards kick.

He backs up and shoots a missile at me; I roll and quickly get up. I see a good opportunity. I decide to improvise; I plant my left hand in the ground, streams of fire start coming out of it. Once again he is faster than the attack and zigzag through my power. He looks distracted. It's time; I raise my sword "PK Thunder!" I cry as I bring down the sword in direction to him. The thunder lands successfully in his chest sending him flying offstage.

I sigh. It is finally over; I can still feel the exhaustion of the stamina badge. Suddenly I hear feet landing in front of me, my eyes swiftly shot upwards. He arrives in front of me and rams me with his cannon, and then complement it with a kick that sends me upwards; he combos this sending what looks like a energy whip in my direction; it grasps me around my waist and slams me into the ground in front of him. My body violently bounces on the ground. He reacts at this delivering a flying kick into my torso, the blow sends me all the way to the other side of the arena where to avoid losing I hang on the edge.

He throws a missile into the sky. I wonder why for a second, but the missile change direction and starts flying in my path. I use my PSI Counter to deflect the missile but it ends up exploding in the deflector.

I can already feel my mind getting tired… indeed, my attacks are at least twice as powerful with Claus, but I only have one body to control all the energy.

I get up from the edge into the arena crawling due to the fatigue, there's where I see another of his energy spheres coming at me; thankfully Ness taught me a couple tricks with PSI Magnet. I use it and absorb the sphere. With my left hand glowing from the energy sphere, I rush towards him. I let go the energy sphere I absorbed with twice the power, but he ducks at the last moment still receiving some damage. I jump forward to give my next PK Fire some momentum, the attack lands and I take the moment to run towards him. I let go a punch, he dodges and grabs me again with his energy beam, this time sending me off the arena with a simple swing.

It looks like it's over; at least I don't feel all dizzy because of that stamina badge. Wait…I feel strange, am I hovering? I look below me, and find out I'm standing in a small white platform, I try to give a step forward but the platform vanishes dropping me into the arena with my body glowing white. I turn around, my opponent is there, again charging another shot…Was not this over?

'Lucas, the beam!'

That small thought gives my rival enough time to act. He throws his laser beam at me getting a firm grasp in my head this time. He jerks his cannon backwards and I'm sent flying towards him. He lands a kick into my stomach, then punches me with his cannon, embraces me with his laser beam and slams me in the arena's edge. My body feels a little sore, so I take my time to stand up… and then I see there is no case on it. He reacts at this with the charged shot of his cannon knocking me out of the arena.

I'm so stupid. The voice said it was a two "something" match; that surely meant we had two opportunities before losing the fight. Whatever… the fight is now over. I wonder how the others will react at this. Perhaps my performance was well, bad, horrible?

When I feel I'm on solid ground I open my eyes. I'm back in the backroom. I take a look at my body… there are no bruises, no stains on my clothes. Not even my hair is disheveled.

I hear the door slowly opening. It is Ness, and behind him, Lucario and Link. "That's one of the best newcomers' fight I have ever seen. I mean you went against Samus!" He tells me waving his arms all around.

'Samus? That was his name?'

"One of the strongest competitors," Ness tells me. He is clearly happy with the outcome of the match even though I didn't win.

I hope you give me the chance to fight you sometime, Lucas," Lucario says. I forgot his presence. Does Ness already told him about what I said yesterday?

'Maybe, but he hasn't mention it yet'

The guys give me space to exit the room and I see some of the people back in the main television room in here.

Aside all of the people in here someone stands out of the multitude. It is him, my opponent. He walks up to me, still sporting his whole armor. In front of me, he place his hands in his helmet.

'Alright…that was unexpected'

As soon as Samus takes off her helmet I can see long blonde hair. I can't say I'm not surprised; it is just that I didn't expect that. When she takes her whole helmet off the first thing to attract my attention are her sky blue eyes and once again, her hair; aside from that there's not much I can see, her whole body is still protected with her armor.

"Well fought, boy," she tells me, her mouth turning into a smirk. "Don't worry we will have our rematch, this was more like a tie," Samus extends a hand; I nod and take her hand shaking it.

After that, she moves away from me so I can leave the room. Outside of it I see more people. In one side Luigi and Mario, who give me a thumb up as I pass by. Behind them a tall person with gray war clothes and a bandana in his head, he watches me firmly. In the other side I don't get to see very well the who's there because in front of everyone is something I would call a dragon–maybe dinosaur–.Its skin is a pale orange, its stomach is mainly beige, and also has a enormous shell in his back along with several pointy spikes. He has orange pointy hair. His gaze it terrifying. Everyone else I can see is simply watching me, some smirking.

When I get away from the group of people, Lucario, Ness and Link joins me to leave the place.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Four days have passed since I arrived. I haven't met anyone new aside Samus. I have got to know Luigi better, he is a nice person. Lucario and Link, along with Ness, have helped me in a lot of stuff here in the mansion as well. They are also reliable persons. In the course of these days, Claus and I decided that Ness is reliable enough to tell him about him (Claus).

In fact, it looks like a good moment now. Ness went for a snack before going to sleep, and when he comes back I'll tell him.

With a beep from the door, it opens. Ness enters with a pair of candy bars in his hand. "Here, take one, you will love it, they are delicious." He hands me one of the candy bars, I hesitantly accept it–I'm not a big candy lover.

"So, Lucas, I guess I deserve an explanation about that double aura thing, I know you know something, buddy." Ness says crossing his arms. This is the moment; few people know the truth about what happened to Claus.

This is going to take sometime… I sit down in my bed, Ness doing the same in his. The best would be if I only explain the necessary. "Okay, I was going to tell you, anyway." I sigh before starting.

"I'm sure that the aura you have being seeing is my…b-brother's." Ness' gaze turns puzzled. I hardly manage to say this. I'm used to my brother, but having to revive the cause of why is he inside me is painful. I give a moment to Ness to understand.

"Your brother? That's crazy… But how?" he asks me, not hesitating a second if my reason is true or false.

I was afraid he would ask that. I can tell him about Claus, but the whole history… I don't want to revive that.

'He deserves at least a resume of it. Maybe he can end up helping'

"Yes… A couple of years ago, I got a mission. I needed to pull these things called Needles…" I start, and drop my eyes to the bedspread. Saying this gets me really weak emotionally, I hope he can respect all of this. "There were seven of these Needles. I needed to do this in order to reset the world, and before anyone else would use the power of the creature freed by the Needles–"

"To reset… the world…?" Ness interrupts me, albeit I can't blame him, the question is valid.

"Yes, a group of people had turned it into a different place, brainwashing the people to make them believe all of their destruction was for the good cause; that what they were doing was the correct thing. They created monsters, hybrids made of two or even more animals. Their goal was to pull the Needles I'm talking you about. Thus killing anyone that would cross in their way, including my… my… " I can not say it! I grasp the sheets–crushing the candy bar–in a failed attempt to calm me down, but it's futile, my rage is easily shown.

"M-Mother…and…and brother." I try to control my breathing so I can continue. And it is impossible. After a low gasp, I hear Ness getting up from his bed, what is he doing now? Suddenly I feel his hand on my shoulder; I would normally shove it off of me but I don't really care in this moment.

"I am sorry. I'm truly sorry… you have had to go through that… If you ever need something, please tell me." Ness said. He sounds sincere, even though he doesn't feel my pain he is not like everyone else. Back in the island–with the exception of my good friends like Fuel, Duster or Kuma–everybody would glare at me, their eyes telling me why? Why I failed? I had the opportunity to restore everything but didn't.

"Thanks," I look up to him giving off a smile, in response he smiles back then sit in the bed besides me.

"Well, the case is that as I was saying, just before pulling the seven Needle, the leader of the group I was talking you about did something with foreign PSI to me, and my brother–who was being brainwashed as well and forced to fight against me–… well, his conscience ended up inside mine."

His serious face turned into a sorrowed one. I have seen it, it's hard to see someone suffering, and it makes oneself feel bad.

I felt comfortable telling that to Ness, so I decided to continue explaining him a little more, even about Kumatora and Duster, how I discovered my PSI powers and stuff like that…but never getting into the "Who" who made my life a hell.

He also opened, telling me some chunks of his own history, about his friends that accompanied him in what seemed like an endless adventure trying to save the world, but as me, he didn't tell me how it all ended, Ness simply stopped explaining.

"Wow, you have gone through hell and survived. I'm happy that I have had the opportunity to meet someone like you," Ness says. We are already in our respective beds, ready to sleep, lights turned off.

"We are also happy, Ness, there are few people that are truly worth knowing nowadays,"

"We? Oh you are referring to your brother-"

"Exactly," I say. Even though the room is dark and Ness can't see me, I smile at he mention of my brother.

Silence takes over the room.

"Lucas!" Ness suddenly yells sitting up, hence making me jump from my bed also sitting up.

"What!"

"Your brother… maybe I can help you two–"

Did he just say he can help us?

'I knew it!'

I'm now confused and excited at the same time, but what is Ness' plan? "How, how?" I ask eager to know the answer.

"I know someone that is very good with this kind of stuff, if I can find him, I'll tell him tomorrow to come."

"Really? That's awesome!"


	4. Life Issues

**Here it is, as I said, a faster update this time. This time you will see: what was Ness' idea to help with Lucas/Claus problem. Anyway...without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 3-Life already got a plan for Us**

**Innocence. Thanks, glad you are liking it.**

* * *

><p>Today is the day, Ness told he had an idea for our –Claus and mine- problem. I open my eyes slowly, according to the clock over the TV it is eleven o'clock, I turn to my left to see that Ness is not there….I quickly sit up; I should get my clothes and see where Ness is.<p>

After taking my time to comb my hair and changing my clothes to more appropriate ones to go out, I leave the room, to head to…I sigh, where could Ness be?

"Morning, Lucas," It's Samus, but with a different suit this time: a blue skintight suit that covers her whole body with the exception of her head letting her long blonde hair shown. I should ask her about Ness, she may know.

"Morning, Samus. Hey, have you seen Ness?"

She takes a hand to her chin trying to remember something "Yeah, it was a lot earlier, though. He was having breakfast in the dinning hall-" I think Samus was going to say something more, but it is all I need. Thanking her with a quick gesture I run off to the dinning hall, expecting Ness to be there. But as soon as I arrive I realize he is not there, instead I find Lucario and Link in a table eating.

"Hey, Lucas, over here." Link calls me, I walk up to the table and take a sit aside Lucario, he offers me an apple, which I would normally reject, but I'm hungry. I nod with a smile and take the apple.

"Hello, guys. Have you seen Ness?" I ask them giving a bite to the apple.

"I haven't, have you, Lucario?" Link shakes his head.

"Let me think…" Lucario take a couple of seconds before he resumes talking "He told me, he was going to see Master Hand but didn't tell me why?"

"That will work," I say, now that I know where he is, I should look for him, but where is MH…? "Where I can find Master Hand?"

Lucario and Link look at each other for a second, "We can accompany you there," If Ness is doing what he told me yesterday, Link and Lucario can find out about Claus…

'I think it is okay Luke, they are as reliable as Ness'

"Okay, let's go."

We leave the dinning hall, and go back to my room's corridor, but we continue forwards to get to the lobby. There we go downstairs and take the left flight of stairs, where a huge door is standing, it reads 'Master Hand's office, enter if you dare.' Quite silly...

Link knocks the door calling for the Hand "Can we come in?"

"Sure!" What I think it's MH's voice, calls back in response. Lucario slowly pushes the door, then we enter, Master Hand is calmly resting in a chair that adapts to his whole body –well, hand-.

"What you need?" He asks us.

"We were searching for Ness, have you seen him?" Lucario acquires. The hand settles back on his chair before he points to his left where a door is. Link frowns at the gesture, not understanding, I would say.

"He is there!" MH exclaims.

We nod at the same time and proceed to walk to the door. Is Ness here? What is he doing? There are a lot of questions in my head, and along the eagerness about for the possibility of having my brother with me again it makes me excited. I open the door, and there he is, standing at the end of the room –which is not really big-, in his hand, a phone. He casts a smile when he sees us entering into the room, but before we can talk, he beckons us to not make noise, which is acceptable.

We decide to take seat in some chairs on our side of the room. I can't stop staring at Ness like I'm trying to read his lips, but it's obviously futile, reading his mind…I can't either, he is a psychic too, the only option left is to wait. I'm in between Link and Lucario, I feel like the latter one is still trying to decipher me, even when it doesn't matter because I will tell them eventually, it still bugs me.

Ness' conversation continues for several minutes, even though Link and Lucario are already yawning from boredom, my eyes are still very aware of what is going on, I'm sitting straight in my chair, eager to know when Ness is going to finish his call. Finally…I heard a "take care" from Ness, he set the phone down, there is where I look at him wondering if what he was doing was for me or not. "Sorry for taking so much time." He says to the three of us, but then turns to me, "I was talking with a friend that might help with-" Ness stops, maybe he remembered that Lucario and Link are here…

'You should let the know about me, better know than later'

Yeah…I will. "It's okay, Ness, I'll tell them about my brother…" Link gaze tells me he knows nothing about what I'm talking about, but Lucario quickly connects the dots and discreetly look at me, maybe he already have an idea.

"your brother-" He halts himself to look at me with an amused face, I can not see myself, but I'm sure I look really eager. "He is a good friend of mine, one of the smartest persons you will ever meet, I mean; he is not expert in splitting two persons back again," There it is! The reaction I was waiting for, when Ness finished that sentence, Lucario's head jerked to me, his eyes widen… "but he is a genius in genetics, DNA and all that stuff."

That sounds pretty convincing "Great!" I exclaim, "When is he going to come?"

"He told me he needed to bring some stuff for any situation, so I think he will need some time for that...maybe at night."

'I never thought we would be so close...'

I know, it seems unreal…but, we can't be sure if it will work anyways, so try to don't get excited.

"Wait, wait-" Links enters in the conversation waving his arms all around "I don't want to be meddlesome, but what are you talking about?"

"Link…" Lucario whispers, maybe scolding Link, well at least he respect my privacy…but it doesn't matter, I will tell them.

"No, it's okay, I should tell you," The next minutes, I explained a shortened version of what Ness knows already…again…it was painful to explain some parts, I was staring to the floor most of my talk, but they know now…

"That explains everything…" Lucario says and then proceed to get up from his seat to walk up to me –just like Ness- "I'm sorry, it is obvious that you have had a tough past, but now you are with us, and we will do everything to help you." He finishes patting me in the shoulder.

"Your history truly impresses me, Lucas, not only because of what you have gone to, but also 'cause of your determination and how you haven't give up in all this time. You have me on your side, whatever...just ask." Link finishes leaving me with a thankful smile. I'm glad that they had understand and not only that, they are willing to help me.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went eventless. The guys gave me a tour through most of the mansion, it is enormous, we didn't finish visiting all of the sections, but at least I feel more familiar now. I met other two...persons, maybe?<p>

While in the main lawn of the mansion, we bumped into a giant blue hedgehog -I swear, if I haven't seen all kind of monsters back home I would have had a stroke already-, he was quite friendly, his name is Sonic. Apart from the word hedgehog there was not a lot else, he was merely wearing a pair of red shoes and white gloves -And again...he was blue!-. I do not even know if he listened to my name, he would not stop telling me all of his adventures along with some jokes in them. In resume, he is another person worth knowing.

The other one was a small -slightly smaller than Boney- yellow mouse, he doesn't speak human language, but thanks to telepathy I could understand him, his name: Pikachu. He told me he came from the same World as Lucario -Something I didn't understand, I did not waste time asking, though- and that he controls electricity. Unlike Sonic, he didn't talk a lot, but he was still a nice friend to know.

Finally, Lucario and Link showed me their dormitory -As Ness and myself, they share as well-, it was a lot different than ours, in Link's side I found all kind of items, from a empty bottle to arrows that emitted beautiful light, in his bed's wall Link had a whole connection of masks, he told me to never touch them, he must have his reasons...

In Lucario's side everything was so calmed; he had different candles with kind scents to the nose. A bed that was even simpler than mine back in Tazmily and a rug adjacent to his bed, it was very soft and comfortable.

* * *

><p>Right now is nighttime and we are in the lobby of the mansion waiting for Ness' friend. Whatever we will do I hope doesn't take too much, I haven't eat in all day long, but there is no time for whining. I turn to the clock above the entrance of the mansion; it reads twenty past eight, when is he going to arrive?<p>

We wait for another fifteen minutes until we notice lights –like from a car- outside the mansion, I get up to get a better view of whoever is going to enter through the crystal doors. Everyone else stay in their seats, but they are still paying as much attention as me. Footsteps can he heard getting close until they stop to open the door. Hands pushes the crystal doors, the person slowly enters in sight until I see him…

'What? Andonuts!'

I gasp in surprise, it is Dr. Andonuts, he was the last person I imagined to see entering through those doors.

'But how…This means Ness knows Andonuts'

Ness looks at me for a moment, he is confused of why I gasped, but he quickly shrugs it off, "Lucas, he is Doctor Andonuts, a well-"

"I know him," I say, Ness frowns as well as the other two "he had helped me before…"

"Ness! How are you…" Dr. Andonuts said happily but trails off as soon as he sees me, everyone is confused in here! "Lucas? Is this the place your father told me you were coming? Interesting."

'Dad told him?'

"Wait, how you know each other?" Ness intervenes. Unfortunately that's the question I'm asking myself as well. Is not mere curiosity like Ness'…Is something I need to know.

"Well, I have known him for maybe two years," I say.

"Really? Me as well." Ness responds, I would like to clarify this already, I'm eager to know what will be of Claus, but this mystery is important too. "Any idea doc?"

"None." Andonuts mutter. Hmm, Pikachu told me he came from the same world as Lucario…If both of us –Ness and I- know Dr. Andonuts, do we come from the same world? But that's not possible, there is no world! The only place left is the Nowhere Islands, and most of its habitants live in Tazmily.

We fall in deep thought; the lobby suddenly gets silenced, while Ness, Andonuts and I think, Lucario and Link simply look at us waiting for the first idea, until the doc speaks up. "I don't see the problem in this, why don't we continue?" Maybe he is right, but I'll just postpone the mystery for later, Claus is more important.

'Thanks'

"He is right," Link stands up joining us three in our small circle, "It's getting late, we should start working."

"Alright!" Dr. Andonuts claps, "There is some stuff in my truck that I will need, if you guys would be so kind to bring it here." We nod and proceed to exit the building.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Ness says, I do not blame him, in front of us there is a moving truck, it looks like Andonuts brought his whole lab...I hope not. Before continuing the task I glance back, the doctor already grabbed a pillow and laid down on a sofa in the lobby. Lucario walks up to the back of the truck to open the sliding door, I was right, a whole group of items and tools are sitting in there waiting for us to take them.

'Uff, this will take a while'

We start with the smallest items to open space for the bigger ones, the whole process of taking every single piece of equipment from the truck to the lobby takes us at least forty five minutes until everything is inside, Lucario closes the truck door and we enter the mansion.

"Good work, guys!" Dr. Andonuts tells us sitting up from the sofa.

"What is all this mess!" A voice booms in the hall, it startles all of us, is when we glance everywhere when we find Master Hand coming downstairs hovering.

"Oh, no." Link mutters.

"I want an explanation!" Master Hand demands, now what?

"Excuse us Master Hand, is just that Ness discovered a power that attracted my attention," Link cleaned his throat and continued "so I found out I could combine it with some of my equipment, but as you see, we needed some technology."

'Nice lie'

"Okay, but please take all of this to another place; I don't want my fountain blew up," Master Hand retorts...That only means…

"C'mon! Let's move this again!" I shout, and everyone huffs in annoyance.

Another half an hour went by, we moved everything from the lobby to a more suitable spacious room that it looked like it was a lab in the past. At this point there is not a lot more we can do to help, it is Dr. Andonuts' turn now. He has told me how his idea will work so I decide to dash off to my room to get some clothes for my brother. I grab a pair of denim short, underpants and a striped shirt, everything mine.

'Two years together…Lucas'

Yeah, but it has to end, it is for the best, besides, remember that our goal here was not only to bring you back but you know what else.

'Is just that it seems unreal, I will be able to once again smell the flowers, see a sunset with my own eyes and more important…to be with my family again'

Those last words made me sigh in happiness, I just hope it all works. After finishing getting the clothes, I open the door to leave to the lab room, but I bump into someone.

"Ready?" It is Link, I can tell that as me, he is also happy, maybe Claus is not his brother nor someone has been caged inside him, but I still see happiness…maybe he feels happy for me.

"Yeah, a little nervous, though…" I state, finally getting rid of those words. Yes, I'm nervous and afraid it might now work.

"Don't worry, everything will go fine, before you can realize it, you will be with your brother again." He tells me.

I would like to say that he is right, but after all I have gone by, I have learnt to never expect something to go by my way. "I know, maybe I am just nervous of seeing my brother again…it has been so much time."

"Come on, the doctor is almost done." He beckons me to follow. I didn't notice it, another twenty minutes went by. I only came from some clothes!

"You're back, good. See, this is how it will work…" Dr. Andonuts tells me, I start following him from the entrance to the lab to where I see a pair of machines, I have never seen them, so they must be a new invention. "You will get into this space," He opens one of the machines, it kind of looks like an Instant revitalizing machine, it has a oval shape, it is mostly gray with the exception of the door which is black with a small sign. It stands on three legs; several cables are coming out from the top and connect to the other machine at its legs. When Dr. Andonuts opened the door of it I notice smoke on the floor of it. In the inside is pretty simple, a small space for only one person, the base color is black and it has a huge thing hanging from the top, like something that would go on whoever is inside's head. "We connect that thing into your head, and your brother should slowly materialize in…" He gives a couple of steps to get to the other machine, "here."

'I wonder how it works…'

"Wait, you are going to make his brother appear from thin air, how is that possible?" Ness asks observing from the other end of the room along with Lucario and Link.

"It is not from thin air…and it would take me sometime to explain it." Andonuts then turns to me "Are you ready?" I nod assured by my friends' words that everything will go just fine.

I'm prepared mentally, I leave my clothes into the machine in which Claus will materialize, I give one more glance back to my friends before entering…

"Excuse me?" That voice is Luigi along with his brother. "I lost something the other day, would you please leave for a second so the Alloys can help me finding it?"

I sigh, this just ruined my momentum…I walk away the machine and proceed to leave the room with everyone else, after we are out of the lab, Luigi thanks us with a quick gesture and order at least twenty Alloys to raid the room. Not even a minute past before all of the Alloys are done, Luigi and Mario then leave the room. "Thanks, we found it." Mario says waving a small object in his hand, nothing important.

We enter the room again; this time my heart beating a lot faster, maybe my brain just realized what I'm going to do, separate my head into two pieces.

'You make it sound even worst'

"Let's start this. Lucas, please step in the machine." Dr. Andonuts says taking his position aside some controls adjacent to both machines.

I enter in the machine, then I look at the doc, wondering what that thing over me is for. "Oh, put that in your head. It may hurt, so be ready." He finishes.

I nod. I stare for a second at the small extension of the machine and place it on my head; it covers mostly of it, leaving only my face to be seen. "Ness, please close the door." Andonuts asks Ness, he obey and walk up to the machine.

"We'll be waiting for you two, good luck." Ness smiles, he closes the door and now I'm alone inside, there is no noise to be heard. I'm now alone…

'Yeah, alone'

Almost alone. The artifact is already in my head, in any moment Dr. Andonuts will turn on the machine, whatever it does, if it hurts or not, I don't care, we are minutes away from Claus being free again.

The blackness of the little room that is in here disturbs me a little, but it is okay, there is a small though blurred window in front of me, at least I can see my friends are in there. I try to keep myself calmed down, but suddenly I see vapor coming out from the floor am standing on, it covers my whole sight and makes it a little harder to breath. Everything starts spinning; the only thing that keeps me from falling is the small space in the machine making my body lean on the wall unwittingly. I my smell starts going away quickly, my ears are deafen by a buzz, I try to feel the vapor with my hands and fail, my eyes start closing and everything goes black…

Apparently I'm unconscious, at least my body, I am still aware of what is going on –I can even count the seconds-, I can't move nor even see. So, this is how Claus sees the world from here –with the exception that he can see through my eyes-, is pretty lonely in here. I guess my brother is not here anymore, I can't feel him, he would have talked by now.

If I was conscious I would be writhing, I started feeling extreme pain from nowhere, it is like my head is getting slammed repetitively against spikes.

And then...everything stops leaving me with a feeling of a huge weight being lifted from me.

The pain starts slowing down; I feel my senses coming back to me. Not more than three minutes went by. I start opening my eyes, the vapor has vanished, and I'm in a sitting position, I notice the shape of a familiar face in the small window…Claus? No…it is Ness. He opens the door and helps me get up, behind him, Lucario and Link helping me to stay standing. "Lucas!" They exclaim at the same time.

I am still dizzy by the machine's job in me, but I accomplish to ask something. "Where is my brother?"

"We haven't checked, you should be the first one to see him," Link says, he and Lucario let me go so I can get out of the machine. Staggering I quickly approach to the other twin machine where Dr. Andonuts told me Claus would materialize. With the corner of my eye I notice Dr. Andonuts and the others gathering close to me.

"Okay...here I go..." I take a breath before proceeding. I try to peek through the small window in the door, but it is tarnished. No more waiting! I clasp the doorknob tightly...wait a second and swiftly open the metal door...I hear several gasps from my friends before I go back to the reality...the vapor vanishes...and there is...no one to be seen. My brother is not here, not even his clothes...he is not HERE! My gaze falls to the floor, "Where is he?" I ask but no one responds, "Where is he?" Again, no one speaks. I feel I am going berserk. I turn around slowly with the most cold and intimidating eyes a living being can see. "I say, where is HE!" I yell, they quickly back up.

"Lucas...L-Lucas, we do not know." Ness barely says. I can smell the fear in his words. I quickly turn to Andonuts and stare sternly at him, he tries to back up, but the wall blocks him...You can not escape!

"I don't know either, I swear." He talks me like a stranger...he fears for his life...He better does!

"Of course you KNOW!" I yell again, my voice cracking... "You are the genius here, how can you not know!" I demand an answer.

"L-Lucas, please, this was just a teleporting machine, I-I modified it so it could work for this situation..." Andonuts trails off as soon as he realizes his stupidity.

"WORK!" I am losing my mind, and quickly. I better get answers or something. "Your damned machine just worsened everything!" I start breathing faster trying to retain myself from doing something they would regret. "You told me everything was going to go well."

"Lucas, calm down, he already told you he doesn't know what happened." Lucario speaks up, calmed as ever, what is his problem...maybe this was their plan from the beginning...What would Claus suggest? Claus...CLAUS! My rage is still building up until I hear more gasps -these comes from dread and terror-. I feel strange, I feel a familiar and at the same time powerful energy. I glance downwards and keep my gaze there...a stream of white energy that is coming from the floor -it created a small crater where is coming out from- and directed to my hand is what is emitting that feeling...

Is this PK Love? I forgot for a second how it looked like, but it is here, in my hand. I bring my head upwards to face my 'friends' again. This time smirking –even though I am crying from the inside, another member of my family is gone-…I won't hesitate this time, I should destroy them now that I have the opportunity to, they must be just another puppet of Him.

"Don't do it!" Link shouts. It looks like he already knows what is in my mind, it doesn't change anything.

"Shut up! I will not fall in your trap!" I shout back, they won't trick me; I must eliminate them now before they do more harm.

"Lucas," Ness says in a low voice "why you say that? You think we enjoy seeing you like this, you think we made this up…no, we didn't, please stop!" I hesitate for a second…NO! I must continue. The power on my hand increases in size destroying a huge chunk of the floor.

I throw my hand backwards breaking another part of the floor as the power slides following my hand's direction. I must eliminate all of them, they have caused the lost of another member of my family, is not fair, they must pay.

They get in a fighting stance…Ha! They think they have an opportunity against PK Love, funny. Before releasing my attack, I hear the door slamming open, I don't care who is it…I must continue with the carnage. But I react too late, a whistle is heard and at the next moment someone is trying to retain me, I see his hands, it is Sonic. "Lucas, stop!" He yells, but I don't listen.

I swing my right arm trying to get Sonic off of me, he backs up and tries to response with a punch, I tilt to the left dodging his punch, I think for a second in using my PK Love against him –he must be another puppet-, but I lost concentration and the power disappeared. I get a moment to overcome the fastest creature alive and return a punch straight to the face; he falls and slides a couple of meters. I hear several feet rushing towards me, I glance to where my "friends" used to be and they are approaching quickly, I turn around swiftly to escape from the room, but before I open the door, someone else do it for me. Mario is standing in front of me, his gloves are ablaze, he glares and launches a haymaker making my ears go deafen and my world turns black…

* * *

><p>Four days since my brother has been gone…I don't know what was of him, if he suffered as much as I did inside of that devil's machine. I can not believe I trusted on those people, they appeared friendly, but NO! They were not; they betrayed my trust on them. I'm out of ideas, with Claus gone and I trapped in this hell there is no much I can do.<p>

The organization had "forgiven" me for the incident four days ago. They said it was a normal reaction, but I do not care what they think, it was not my fault.

I have stayed in my room for the lasts days, Ness had –cleverly- decided to stay on someone else's room since I don't even want to see him; I haven't eat other thing than the snacks that are in the mini fridge I have in the room. I tried to decipher what went wrong that day -if it is even true that something went wrong-. But I have no clue. What does Andonuts said…? "This was just a teleporting machine…" He said he simply modified it, but the base was a teleporting machine. Hmm, "materialize…" that means that the modified machine was programmed to separate and reattach, and a normal teleporting machine acts the same, like the ones I used to come here and to get in the arena…separate and reattach.

I'm in thought until I hear someone knocking the door, I forget my calmness, and I do not want to see anybody here. "Go away!" I shout, I hope he or she have got the message.

"It is me, Luigi," he responds me. But, why he doesn't get the message!

"Go away!" I repeat.

"I am coming in!" He advices me, please, don't let him come in, I'm not in the state to receive visits.

With a beep from the door it slides open, Luigi is there, and he enters into the room looking too confident…I glare at him; I was being sincere when I said I didn't want visits, but he still looks confident. "How are you feeling?"

Seriously! Why does he ask that! "Like crap!" I shout in his face, "Now, go away."

He chuckles in a low tone "It has been sometime, Lucas, and you are still the same."

The same..? "Exactly, Lucas, you are the same," Did he just answered my question…is he a psychic or something?

"You are so naive, and what I meant was that everyone around always die." He stopped to smirk "You are a killing machine!" Is he referring to Claus…?

"No, Lucas, I'm not referring to that lifeless robot!" He called Claus a lifeless robot…No…I stagger backwards losing my balance and falling down on my bed. How he knows? "I am referring to your mommy and not only her but to all the other people you couldn't save. You are a failure!" No, no, NO! I won't let anyone talk like that…I rush towards him, ready to launch a PK Fire, but before I can do something, he swings his arm in my direction flinging me into the wall breaking part of it.

"How...how you know?" I ask standing up.

He laughs and shakes his head in amusement. "Oh come on, you have forgot me already, it has been only two years..." No, it can not be, I should ask to clarify, but the simple idea of who is he is restraining me of thinking clearly.

"You are right, Lucas. I have returned!" That is it! I regain my posture and give off a war cry before attempting to launch another PK Fire. He reacts quickly, backhanding the fireball and jumping towards me. I give a couple of steps backwards to evade him, but he had my move read. With his hand ablaze he casts a stream of green fire in my direction, I can only respond rising a small PSI Shield, unfortunately for me it only shielded the upper part of my body, burning with low damage my legs. I easily ignore the pain and try to approach again.

"C'mon, give your best shot." He starts laughing again to then turn so I can face his cheek in a mocking sense. This can be a trap, but my rage blinds me. Trap or not, back in the islands the Magypsies told me that if a psychic is controlling someone's body and he or she dies in the process, the controller will not be able to return to his body. That means if I manage to kill him in Luigi's body I will let him helplessly.

I use PK Freeze on gamma level to freeze his body, this gives enough time to take out Claus' sword from under the bed, I turn it on and without even thinking, three huge gamma level thunders comes out of it. He sees them coming and his smile gets bigger. When the thunders crash the solid ice caging him explodes. A cloud of smoke covers the room for a moment, when it dissipates it reveals him lying on the floor almost unconscious.

"Nice..." he mutters and smirks again.

"What is going on in there!" Someone shouts from the other side of the door, I think it is Mario, I face the door and use a PK Freeze so they can't open it.

"No one will interrupt us...Porky." I say returning my attention to Porky who is still on the floor defenseless. I walk up to him, and duck to his height to see him in his eyes. "You think you are walking out alive of this one?"

He shrugs. "I don't know…That is your decision." Unlike Dr. Andonuts or Ness' near death experience with me, I can not see dread in Porky's eyes, but it is okay, I will cause it. I glare at him, he smirks again. I won't let him enjoy my suffering. I pull my left hand backwards and bring it as fast as I can into his face, then I do the same with my right hand. I repeat the process a couple of times...his face is already swollen, but that does not stop Porky from smirking.

I must stop him."Are you done?" He says with difficulty though still trying to make me even angrier. "Your brother gave a better fight!"

"Do...not...MENTION HIM!" I yell at him.

"Lucas, open the door, NOW!"

"We are going to have to break in!" Different people shout from outside the room, now I reckon not only Mario, but Master Hand, plus anyone else that is trying to break in.

"DO IT!" I challenge them. I take Luigi's body -which is lying on the wall- and drag it to the other end where the beds are. I turn to the door's wall again and with a PK Freeze omega level cover the whole wall with ice.

I return my attention to the monster in here and crack my knuckles, my left hand gets covered on fire, and my left one gets embraced with ice. "Let's see how much you enjoy this." I growl.

His response is blank. I start punishing him again. While my left hand -the one covered with fire- damage his face with each strike burning his skin, my right hand slowly finish with his life. Seconds later, he is almost unconscious; the next blow will finish him. But I deserve a more enjoyable way to kill him. I concentrate and from my hand a white ball of energy appears quickly connecting to the ground...PK Love.

"This ends NOW!" I grab Porky by his collar with my right hand and thrash his head against the wall creating a dent. I throw my left hand backwards to give some momentum with my PK Love, everything is set-

"Falcon punch!" A cry attracts my attention; I turn to the door to see how chunks of it along with the wall start going down to finally open space for the whole crowd outside my room to raid the place. Mario is the first one to step in followed my MH, Link, Ness, Lucario and other seven persons unknown to me.

The first one gasps as he sees his brother on the floor bleeding, he then turns to me to see the destructive power on my hand, he starts running towards me, the others do the same.

"Good bye, Lucas..." Porky mutters and everyone else but us two slow down.

No! Where is he going, I'm so close to finish this...

I would stay, but I have to go hunting...you know, your brother is still out there...

His words echo in my head followed by another maniac laugh. Luigi's body goes limp and everything comes back to normal. "PORKY!" I yell as I try to release my PK Love in him, but someone tackles me to the ground making the attack land on the wall adjacent to Luigi's body, destroying it.

I elbow whoever tackled me, it was Mario. He quickly recovers from the hit and stands up glaring at me. "What you did?"

I see hate in his eyes, I glance to my back where Luigi is, his body unconscious, if not dead. I understand his hate, perhaps I'm now the enemy, the puppet…NO! I have a mission and I will achieve it at whatever cost. He tries to run towards me, but I deflect him –along with everyone else- with a psychic shockwave.

"What is your problem?" Someone from the small crowd asks, but I don't have time for answers…

They strike fighting poses and prepare to attack…I have to react fast! My mental stamina is already low, but I manage to do a final move. "PK Flash!" I exclaim releasing an enormous light with electric properties, blinding or paralyzing everyone in the room. I grab Claus' sword –which I dropped after using it against Porky- and my Courage badge, I turn around to face the big hole on the wall, and jump through it landing on one of the mansion's garden. I don't have time…If I'm not wrong; in the other side is the lobby.

Carelessly I aim with the thunder sword at the wall and cry "PK Thunder!" The –weak- alpha level thunder barely destroyed the wall, I run through the hole and in the lobby quickly search for the exit. The crystal doors start sealing with a metal one, in response I slash through the metal with sword in hand and exit the building swiftly.

Now where? I glance everywhere; there are not a lot of options…Except one...the city! I look around and find it at the distance. Is the only place I can go for the time being. I start running as fast as I can even though my body tells me it can't give more.

Still running, I glance one more time back to the mansion. Red lights flashing, alarms sounding and the blood of an 'innocent' in my hands.

* * *

><p><strong>So, all of this leave us with Lucas running for his life to an unknown place for him. Expect to know the city in the next chapter. By the way, tell me what you think of those two confrontations, I think they came out pretty well, but I'm open for opinions. Also, the next chapter will take sometime, because this time I want to update my other history.<strong>


	5. Fugitive

It's still morning, I'm sure I have enough time to make to the city and find a place to stay before the sun sets. I have been running for some time already. I can see the city is not far from where I am, and I had already left the mansion behind.

I calm my pace, nobody said that whenever I reached the city the things would calm down, I'm sure that Master Hand or Mario had already sent people to 'hunt me down', I wouldn't be surprised.

"Finally..." I say panting; I rest my hands on my knees and give my body a brief rest then continue walking. In front of me is the road to leave the city, something I don't want.

I walk in the side of the road, as the cars come and go their passengers look at me in awe. I frown at this...of course, I glance down to my shirt, its dominant color isn't yellow and orange anymore, most of it is tainted with red...Luigi's blood is all over my shirt as well as in my short and shoes. The best idea before entering the city would be to change my clothes, but how?

The continuous stares from the people in their cars bugs me...Maybe I can steal at least a shirt from someone...No, that would just worsen everything. Forget it; I don't have time to think this. I wait in the side of the road. One car passes, another one passes, and the next one is coming. Just before he passes my position I jump in front of it blocking its path and making sure it is enough close to me so it can't escape.

"Get out!" I command the young man inside the car, although I try not to sound dangerous -something the blood in my clothes doesn't help. The man hesitates for a moment, but quickly gets out when he noticed the blood.

"W-what you want?"

"Sorry, but I need you to give me your clothes." The man give a couple of steps behind, it makes me feel feared, something I always hated. I ponder my words again to make this easier for both: the man and myself. "I just need your shirt, please."

"N-no, why?" The man is wasting my time, the cars continue passing by, but this time, slowly to witness the robbery. I see some of the taking out cell phones.

"Just give it to me!" I raise my voice to make him clear what I want. This time he doesn't question my order and takes his shirt out as fast as he can then handle it to me, his hand shaking.

"Thanks," I mutter before putting me the shirt over the one tainted. Then I resume my trip to the city, this time I have to run, the people watching my little show back there must have called the police.

With the help of the highway I don't take a lot of time to get to the city. Now, I'm between the first buildings I can see, I hide behind one of them to watch if there is any police activity near by. I wait a couple minutes, everything looks calm. The shirt I robbed from the man won't cover the blood on my short or shoes -hell; even my hair looks yellow with red locks-, I need to move without getting attention.

I start walking behind several building, after advancing a couple of squares I notice something in the other side of the street: a mall. Maybe I can get some new clothes from there. The only thing I don't want to think about is how I'm going to get them, I can rob them for sure, but I do not know if it will be an easy task. Again, a feeling of guilt is overwhelming me, I already feel guilty for nothing.

I cross the street trying to not get unneeded attention, everything is okay…until I see a police car passing by, coincidence…another police car this one with its siren on. Is not a good sign, I enter the mall immediately. As soon as I enter I notice two guards, one on each side of the door, they stare at me examining my strange combination of clothes –along with its colors. The man's shirt I'm using doesn't fit me quite well; the man sturdy so the shirt covers more than just my torso.

"Hey, you!" One of the guards calls me. I gulp, but try to hide it, maybe he just want to ask me something and no more.

"Yes?" I respond.

"Please come here." He looks very confident. I nod, but before turning to him I see the other guard placing a hand on his pistol.

He seems to find out that I'm aware of that…I front kick the guard that called me, he fall on his back. I take this little moment to take care of the guard with the gun. He draws his pistol, but is not enough fast to aim at me. I elbow the guard in his face, then a weak jab to the stomach, he reacts falling in the floor and taking both of his hands to his stomach, in the floor he simply stare at me wondering what just happened. As I planned, I use this opportunity to use PK Hypnosis on him –which as the name implies: an invisible shockwave is sent to the brain and in a CLICK the receiver falls asleep, no damage, no danger-; the guard falls asleep without a word.

Now the other guard. He fell roughly as I see him having troubles to stay up. I don't want to hurt him so I go straight to the job. I use PK Hypnosis on him as well, just that before the technique takes effect, he hits me with his baton, the strike knocks me to the floor.

Stupid guard…I walk away from them as quick as I can, maybe I shouldn't have let them there.

I visited the mall back in the islands enough times to know how this places work. I suppose I'm in the first floor so I search for the clothing department. I find a sign that tell it is in the third floor.

I close my eyes for a moment while I take the escalators to the second floor… In what have I got myself into? This is getting difficult, I ran from the people that could have helped me, I robbed a man, and just minutes ago I knocked off two guards. My greatest fear right now is that the Smash Brothers-

"Today, tragedy has struck the Super Smash Brothers organization."

Oh no…

I open my eyes again to see that I'm already in the second floor. I look around to find a group of televisions where a considerable group of people is mustered. In the televisions a lady is seating behind a desk, papers in her hands. Her voice is serious, albeit concerned and nervous as well.

"Luigi, Mario's brother who is one of the founders of this organization, was attacked this morning…"

Some people take a hand to their mouth showing surprise, while others put up a straight face; in any case everyone looks disgusted by the words…

I walk away from the escalators to get behind a desk which in the middle of the department, I can't say I'm hiding very well, but I'm waiting for the worst. Still, I can get a good view of the biggest television.

"The SSB had announced who the attacker was: a newcomer…"

Crap…here it comes.

"This person was the last one to arrive to the Smash mansion, his name…Lucas…"

The image zoomed out of the lady and my picture appeared aside her in a square at the corner of the shot.

I can't believe this…My greatest fear just came true. With this all over the news, I won't be able to navigate around the city freely, but worst, I won't be able to achieve my goal: save Claus.

More people gather around, when these persons heard the news, blazing gazes appeared at their eyes. Apparently the Smashers are an important group followed by the people.

I gulp. I'm being stupid, at this time I should have already got out from here…but my legs won't respond, inside me I really want to know what the people will say about me…I thought I didn't what the others think about me.

"The Smashers told us they don't know the cause of the attack. They said there are possibilities linked to a failed experiment some days ago, the only witnesses of said experiment were the Smashers: Link, Ness and Lucario who decided to not talk about the incident that night." I almost forgot it... They were there; they witnessed my weakness that night. I must admit I'm surprised they didn't talk about what happened, they must have a reason.

"Now, to conclude this sad news we have Luigi's brother here: Mario. Please tell us what we can expect and what we: the people can do to help," the lady talked one more time before the shot change to Mario sitting in Master Hand's office at the Smash mansion.

"Hello people, as you know I'm Mario and I just want to say some words." Mario clears his throat; he is trying to stay calm for the audience, I would say. My little incident with Por- Luigi devastated him. "First I want to add something, my brother has fallen in comma, the doctor was kind with me…but honest as well."

"I hope the Smashers catch Lucas soon…"

"This Lucas person is really a monster, I'm sure he will get what he deserves…"

"I want to kill that idiot right now…"

The people start talking stuff as the words flows out of Mario's mouth. I can't believe the people are thinking this about me, it makes my heart sink…This is how we always talked back in the islands about Porky.

Mario continues. "He told me that Luigi had few chances of waking up from his comma, his body is pretty much devastated. I want to show an uncensored image of his state, please, this may be very disturbing, keep away your kids." I don't know why he does this: Showing an image of his dying brother in TV. He really wants to attract attention, and of course make the people hate me.

When Mario finished, an image appeared on screen. As the image appears I notice moms covering her kids eyes, other adults turned away from the screen, some cover their mouths in disgusting of what is being show on screen, very few resisted with a serious gaze watching the disturbing image. Me…I feel like passing out, it is a lot of blood, his face is almost unrecognizable. Images of my family and friends show up in my head, it makes my head hurt…what would Dad or Mom think about this…or Claus...? The worst of this is that I occasioned it. I fall in a crouch position, but still I can't separate my eyes from the screen.

"As you can see Lucas didn't go easy on my brother." Mario balls up a fist but quickly hides it behind his back along with his other hand trying to not show his pain and rage in public. "This is when I want you to ask for your help…"

"We are going to mobilize everything we have to catch him. This type of situation is new for us, we never had a traitor before. We will keep Lucas' picture for a couple of minutes more. If you see him please call us at: one-one-five SMASH."

He called me a traitor. I sigh in defeat…I guess that's pretty much my position right now, at least for them.

"Thanks for your attention, expect more news about this in the following hours." With those last words, Mario press a button on the desk, the screen goes black for a couple of seconds until the shot returns to the lady. She frowned for a moment at the sudden cut of the shot from the Smash mansion.

Fortunately I didn't get too far from the escalators, walking around this mall will just cause my apprehension. I don't wait the escalators and prefer to run on them to get to the 3rd floor as fast as I can.

I get to my destination and to my luck the whole floor is like a maze of counters and shelves fill with clothes, I will go unnoticed. First I'll go for something that will cover up my face. A hood! I walk up to where the hoods are…I search for one with a dark color. This one…no. This other one…no. Here! I take a dark blue hood, no meaningless drawings or images, just a simple hood. I hang the hood on my arm which acts as a hanger and continue my little 'shopping trip' to where the pants and shorts are.

I look downwards to a pair of pants that looks nice…nice? Perhaps I'm in position for choosing? No! I continue examining the pants until I hear a voice behind me.

"Hello, can I help you on something?" A sweet female voice talks behind me. It startles me but I keep my body straight.

With the head still hanging low looking at the pants I respond, "Eh…No I'm okay thanks."

"Very well, remember if you need anything, just tell me," she concludes –at least I think. She thinks I didn't hear her; the lady leans towards me to look at my face. When she meets my eyes, my expression is blank, hoping she doesn't recognize me…but…

"God," she gasps. "Y-You are…Lucas."

"Hi?"

She tries to run, but as soon as she starts she trips over a clothes stand. She turns her body still in the floor to look at me, her breathing accelerates.

"Please...don't," I tell the lady trying to calm her down. My words fall on deafen ears. She starts crawling backwards without taking her eyes away of me. I don't want to cause her fear, but I can't leave her here, she would give my position.

"Get away from me..." She mutters. I can see she's going to scream for help...

"Someone he-" the next words come out muffled. I form a "sorry" with my lips when I place my hand roughly on her mouth and proceed to use PK Hypnosis on her. Her body falls limp; I approach to her asleep being and drag it to somewhere else, where someone can't find her. I leave her in a near by room to then continue.

As I was doing before bumping into the lady I go back to choose a pair of pants. This time I don't waste time -excuse the repetition- and choose a pair of blue jeans. I leave both: my new hood and pair of pants on a shelf. The next I need is a shirt; I walk up to a clothes stand and get the first one I see: a black long sleeved shirt with a black skull slightly perking out of the fabric...I know is not my style but again, I do not have time.

And lastly, aside my new shirt I find a couple of shoes..."They are nice," I mutter picking up the pair of blue and black sneakers. I take the hood, the pair of pants, the shirt and the pair of sneakers to a room where I can change myself.

"Ergh...this is definitely NOT my style." I grunt looking myself in the mirror...I look like some kind of assassin with this 'disguise'. My blond red-tainted hair peeks out of the hood, so I comb it to the side with the help of my hands. I take out the Franklin Badge of my short pocket to accommodate it underneath my hood. I give out a shaky false smile trying to say to myself that I'm still Lucas. I shake my head and dispel those childish thoughts, I must leave now.

I put away my now old clothes on a bag I found just some minutes ago. I have the lady I encountered earlier locked up in a small room; I did it so no one would find her unconscious. I just need to unlock her door and I will be free to leave this place. I walk up to the room where I leave her and open the door...

"You gotta be kidding me!" I think out loud as I find out the room I left the lady is empty…

Was she freed or she somehow got out by herself? I hope for the first, in that case she can still be unconscious and no one has to know who she bumped into. I look into the room, there is no signs of her trying to escape from inside. Well, I better get out now before…

A loud alarm starts crying suddenly, red flashing lights accompanying the alarm. "Attention customers, the fugitive of the Smash Mansion –Lucas- has been spotted in this building, please exit the building, the police along with the Smashers are in their way," a voice says through the speakers situated all around the floors.

I take the bag with my clothes and wrap it inside my hood. With the hood covering most of my face I run through the 3rd floor trying to find my way to the escalators. When I get there escalators I notice the floor was not as empty as it looked, the escalators are flooded by people wanting to escape the place –I didn't know I could move masses.

There is no way I will go down in the next 10 minutes with the place like this. I stride away the escalators and move towards the railing, I lean my body against it and look down… Maybe…?

Even between this chaos I can hear helicopters outside the mall, their steel wings in the roof. The only way I will get down this floor is by jumping, yeah, that would attract attention, but I won't stay here any longer, my instinct tells me it will just end badly. I stride backwards to prepare my jump…one, two, three steps. I take one last deep breath before jumping. I run toward the rail ready to jump. A person runs in my way, I almost bump into her but I leaned to one side enough to evade her, she simply takes my hood off of my head intentionally.

I leap above the railing using my PSI to boost my body and not crash with the glass covering the edge of the floor. The time seems to slow down as I descend through the middle of the escalators.

"ARGH!" A sudden piercing feel invades my arm, I can't see it right now, but something penetrated my skin…

"I hit him!" I hear someone calling from the second floor.

My right arm feels paralyzed by whatever that idiot did. It just doesn't respond. The sudden lost of control almost costs me a crash landing in the 1st floor. I use my left arm to create a psychic wave below me, it doesn't work at 100% since I fall in my right side, but I ignore the stinging pain and get up quickly –something all the uproar from the people in the mall helps very well.

"It's him!"

"It's Lucas!"

The people call out my name as I run through the huge mall searching for a back exit. A policeman stands in front of me with his gun pointing my head. "Freeze!" I ignore the dumb request and cast a paralyzing ray at the man, he falls in the floor roughly, his gun slides to my feet.

I leave him with a cocky 'hmph'.

I reach the back door and open it with a kick; I was lucky to just bump into a couple of cops in my way out. I look around, a couple of police cars and cops but no one near me. There is a wall between me and an alley at the other side –where I have to go to escape this place entirely. I take out the thunder sword from the bag and turn it on. "PK Thunder," a weak shout and an equal small thunder destroy the wall in front.

I walk through the demolished wall to head to the alley. The moon has already risen in the sky. I jog out of the zone, I only need a place to sleep and plan my future step in this mess. I see a motel in the distance. Perfect. I approach by the backyard of the building; I can't enter without alarming someone. The place has two floors; somehow, even with my right arm almost useless I accomplish to climb a tree that is at the height of a window of an empty room. Once again I take out the thunder sword and turn it on and I hold it in front of me. I calculate the distance between the window and the tree –I can reach it easily, even without using PSI. I leap against the window breaking it with the sword… Coincidentally I land on the bed; it feels so good that I can just stay here without even moving my stuff out of my hood. But no, I have to check the place a little before going to sleep…Although…if I close my eyes for a minute nothing will happen…Right?


	6. Fugitive Part2

**Hello everyone. After a month since the last update, I finally bring you another new chapter.**

**Anon : Thanks. In that case I'm sure you will like this chapter as well.**

**Phew. Longest chapter so far, it turned out to be a 'little' longer than I expected, however, that doesn't matter I enjoyed writting this chap. **

* * *

><p>"I want to stay with my brother..." A voice dripping misery echoes around my ears. I look around… I'm back where the seventh needle was; the cave of its resting.<p>

I find my other self a few meters from me. _He_ is crouching in the ground, and Claus' dead body in _his_ arms, and the remains of his shattered helmet all over his body.

"Lucas, you must continue, we'll stay here with Claus." I drift my eyes to the right; there is my dad, his hat resting on his chest, and his voice weak, something that is not characteristic from him in any situation.

"But… but Claus," my other self says. _He _looks up to my dad, _his _eyes letting tears flow freely, _his _hair disheveled, and _his _clothes sporting several scratches with the occasional blood stain.

"Come on Luke, everything will go back to normality once you pull that last needle… please just do it." My other self turns _his _head to see Kumatora standing there. She has the most sympathetic look on her dark but lively eyes, the tears streaming down her cheeks, gleaming with the light that the needle gives off.

That's when my other selfstand to _his_ feet, but not before my dad takes Claus into his arms. _He _walks shakily towards the needle... but that was the moment… the moment that changed everything –I remember it very well.

"Lucas!" Kumatora shouts from behind making my other self turns around to see the cause of such yell.

Porky's nearly destroyed spider machine is standing a few meters from us. "This is not over yet!" Porky yells and coughs due to the volume of his words. From the inside of the machine a red light appears, but before I can presence the tragedy, I wake up.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

My eyes slowly open and I sit up. I take a hand to my forehead. Even inside that dream I knew it was just a dream, still it felt so real.

Thankfully I'm still in the motel room. The sun illuminates freely the room thanks to the broken window and thus the particles of dust in the air sparkling along with the sun. I touch my shirt, it's all sweaty –letting my hood on wasn't a good idea. I glance down to the sheets, they are covered with blood. I sigh staring at my right arm, it isn't bleeding anymore, but it hurts worst than yesterday. I decide to unwrap the bag with my old clothes, I take my orange and yellow shirt and wrap it gently around my arm, I don't want to stop future bleeding, but I do it to cover the wound.

"Where is it? Where is it?" I ask to myself rummaging under the sheets and the pillow, but I can't find any unusual lumps. I peek under the bed and then sigh in relief, I extend my hand to reach Claus' trademark sword. I finally get up from the bed and coincidentally look out the window to find my next snag.

"Have you seen this person?" A cop standing in the motel's parking lot asks. In front of him a man in his mid-thirties responds:

"That is Lucas," the man states the obvious with slight fright in his voice. "Sorry, but no, I haven't."

There is a short pause and then the cop says: "We received a call last night, a person told us he saw Lucas around this area, this is the only place left to check. Would you mind if we look around?"

The man nods without hesitating. "Of course not."

I hit the wall with my fist in annoyance. I need time to think in a plan, and I won't be able if this people keep interrupting.

I walk up to the broken window and crouch in the support of it. There are people walking in the street, my presence surely won't go unseen. I leap towards the tree just like last night, climb down of it and walk behind towards the alley behind the motel.

I glance around after every step I give, there most be no cops around this area if I want to get out of-

"Freeze!" Another of those ridiculous demands is given by a cop with a gun.

"PK Fire," I say in a low voice. A ball of fire comes out of my left hand and hits the ground creating a wall of fire.

The cop acts smartly and speaks through his radio. "All units, fugitive spotted behind the motel in 'Green Leaf' avenue."

By the time he finishes, I already started running out of the area, I look back to see a whole squad of cops already following me not too far behind. I turn in the next alleyway. Using PSI, I push different objects to block the cops' future path. The end of the alleyway leaves me in the exposed street, but I can't go back now.

"Stop!" A cop commands which makes me accelerate and try to cross the street. I almost reach the end of the street, but a police car crosses in front of me. Its occupants quickly get out of it and draw their guns.

I halt my race and stand in front of them. I glance back; the squad of cops is in the exit of the alleyway. "PK Freeze," I mutter and a snowflake is casted from my hand, it flies towards the squad behind me and explodes creating an ice barrier.

Without losing time I utter my next move. "PK Counter." An orange shield appears in front of me, anything that tries to touch me and meets the shield will counter the damage.

As I anticipated, both cops open fire at me as soon as they see my PK Freeze. The PK Counter acts shielding me and then bouncing the bullets at random directions. Unfortunately for one of them, one of the bullets bounces and lands in a cop's leg. He wails in pain as the bullet penetrates his leg. His partner quickly aids him, and when he remembers their target, I'm already gone.

"That was really close, eh Claus?" Oh, of course…

I continue running until I'm sure the sirens are far from me. I notice a perfect place to hide; in between two buildings an alley with multiple way outs is found. Giving my body a moment to relax, I enter walking into the alley, checking my surroundings. I should find a ladder with which I could get to a roof. That would be the best place to stay for now.

"There," I say to myself. I walk up to a fire escape that stretches from the bottom to the roof of the apartments. I look up, it's a good height, and from above I will be able to look for any danger nearby.

I start climbing the stairway with silent steps. I'm almost there, but before I reach the rooftop, I hear a voice already in the top.

"He must be around here, a heard a report from a cop not too far from here." I'm sure that I know that voice…Wait!

Before the realization comes to me, a voice invades my head, the volume of said voice is high enough to make me feel dizzy, but I'm still able to distinguish what it tells me. "An invasion, you are just provoking an invasion… and you will fall in my hands, Lucas."

When the voice finishes, due to its volume, is like something is banging my head, I can't stand staying in the same position, I stumble forwards in the stairway and fall upon the rooftop.

"Who's there? Lucas…" I hear another voice –which I supposed was in the roof as well. That voice, I can recognize it and very well. It's no other than Ness'.

"Ness," I barely manage to utter, getting up from my sudden rush of dizziness. My blue eyes glow from inside the shadows of my hood.

"You finally show up, the whole force have been looking for you," Link says with a serious tone, but still, his hand in his sword's shaft.

"I don't have time to waste, not even with you," I tell them.

From the corner of my eye I notice Lucario; he's sitting over the small frame where the door that leads to the rooftop is. He starts talking. "Lucas, please come with us. I'm sure you didn't do that to Luigi in purpose, there must be a reason."

"And you're right, there is one, but there's no doubt that as soon as I try to explain it, Mario will just not listen… and my mission will be ended, and of course you will continue with your happy lives." I glare at the three of them. I'm in a tight situation, there are no options. Lucario surely is faster than me, besides, trying to escape jumping from building to building isn't the best idea.

"You know very well we wanted to help you with your brother," Ness tells me, he seems honest, but as I have learned so far, there are no trustworthy people... Which makes me think why I opened myself to Ness and the other two?

"I don't know, Ness," I tell him, sighing. "I have to protect my family, and that implies getting you three out of my way."

Link looks disappointed; he takes out a small watch-looking device and brings it near his mouth. However, before he can do anything else, Lucario interrupts Link by placing his paw on Link's device. I can barely hear his babbling. "Maybe if we give him some time, he will trust in us and thus coming back to the mansion to clarify this, finally."

"If you say so…" Link responds and put away his device.

Ness gives a couple of steps forwards and stretches out a hand. "So? Will you come with us?"

My heart tells me to say yes and accept their friendly request, but I have to look into the reality, Mario and whoever are his followers will do everything to make me pay for what I did to his brother. In conclusion, the right thing to do –at least for the reason I came here– is to say 'no' and get rid of any threats that danger my mission.

"You should already know my answer, Ness." I give him a chance to retreat while I take out the thunder sword, press a button and turn it on. "We don't want to hurt each other. What if you just walk away and let me continue?"

"We have our mission as well, and is to capture you, Lucas," Lucario says, his words makes me glare at him and proceed to start a confrontation.

I point Claus' sword skyward and call: "PK Thunder!" One beta thunder falls on each: Lucario and Link, I can't see if they hit or not, but my target is Ness. Using PK Thunder on him would have been useless, I don't know what kind of defensive PSI he has.

I rush towards him. I hold the thunder sword in front of me; I don't want to kill Ness but to _disable _him. I swing the sword upwards pointing at Ness' stomach. I'm sure the sword lands on him successfully, but my ears catch a clank… another clank is heard and I feel the air that surround us pressuring our bodies, I let go the thunder sword to try and focus on my own health. Ness, who is in front of me, apparently is suffering as much as I am. The air continues to pressure us as if it is going to implode.

I am right, from a second to another both of us are sent flying by an explosion. I try to see where Ness lands, but my body crashes with the fire escape making me dizzy –my arm just feels worst than ever.

"Ness!" Lucario yells. I get up with difficult and see Link at the other side of the rooftop with Ness. Ness is being held with a hook that is _attached _Link's arm, Link frees Ness and both take fighting position.

I pick up the thunder sword it and hold it to my face's height. I would love to have a plan in this moment. Three versus one, there's a huge disadvantage. They three can charge towards me from different directions and easily trap me.

"What would Claus do?" I ask to myself. He was always good for difficult situations, after all, he commanded an entire army at some point. But now that I think about it, I never learned from Claus –at least I didn't have the opportunity to. I try to forget him for a moment –not an easy task at all– and think in somebody else... Of course! Kumatora and Duster, they fought alongside me long time ago. Duster was exceptionally good in tight scenarios… after all, he was a thief, he had to be smart and think quickly in all time.

Deep into my mind I can recall his words… "Remember: don't just focus on the main battlefield, look farther and search for options, something your opponent will never expect…" I smile briefly at the memory.

Look farther. There are only buildings… Hmm, if I distract them by traveling from roof to roof; No! That would be useless… Unless, I find a narrow roof and manage to take them one by one. That should work.

I turn my back on them, the fire escape is facing another building before me, without hesitating I strode backwards then run and leap to reach the building in front of me, its height is minor than the ladder so I don't need extra height.

Stumbling, I land in the next roof. That was close. I look back to my pursuers; they don't waste time and hurry jumping to this building. Ness boosts himself with PSI; Link uses his hook device to grab onto the building wall and climb to the roof; the last one: Lucario doesn't have problem, he simply jumps and lands precisely.

This roof is narrower than the last one, besides, if I get trapped, I can jump out and into the street, isn't a bigger fall than the one in the mall.

"Sorry Lucas, but you are provoking this," Link says before drawing out his sword.

"PK Thunder!" I respond him by casting an alpha thunder, Link uses his shield in his right hand to not only block it but deflect it, and I merely see the thunder shot out in a random direction.

In the corner of my eye I notice Lucario ready to attack, I jump backwards to evade the attack; once he's in front of me I push him with a PSI wave. Ness uses the multiple distractions to charge towards me. He puts his hands in front of his body and even meters away from me, he pushes me using PSI. My body is sent against the small wall that covers the edge of the roof.

Link puts away his sword for a moment and takes out a boomerang, he throws it at me but I easily block it with the thunder sword. I see Lucario place his paws in a strange position and a blue sphere appears, it starts increasing in size… I should stop that.

I start dashing towards Lucario, but Ness leaps in front of him confronting me. I slash Claus' sword horizontally and he leans to one side evading it, I try again but he dodges it one more time. Ness nods slightly and there is when I hear footsteps behind me.

"Now, Link!" Lucario shouts. Just as the words leave his mouth I feel something grabbing my stomach from behind, I get dragged and I see Link standing with his hook device.

My eyes widen, Lucario's sphere is the size of his body and he pulls his hands back before releasing the sphere.

"PK Freeze!" I half wail half shout, but it's worth it. I create a snowflake with my injured hand, the attack doesn't carry as much power, but it is enough to explode along with Lucario's sphere.

I manage to move enough to knee Link in his right thigh, he losses his grip on me. I pick the thunder sword, turn it off and put it on my pocket… all of that in the air. I decided to jump off of the roof; I see how the cars pass in the street below me.

My hand is pressured by the air around me; signal that I'm charging my PSI. The street is just at an instant from me. I open my left hand and a huge psychokinetic wave crashes into the ground, my landing is safe thanks to this –while the cars get stopped by the same wave and thus keeping any person safe… I did something fine, finally.

My PSI is running low; my body is paying the cost of using so much PSI in such a short amount of time. Ness, Lucario and Link don't stay behind, a little slower than me, but they get down to the street, at last.

I have to get out of here, all this wreck must had already got the attention. I doubt anything in my arsenal would terminate them successfully. Or am I wrong…? PK Love. The realization comes to my mind as a lighting bulb.

I focus on the words PK Love and the image on my mind. My concentration is paid by the glorious feeling generating on my left arm. I touch the ground gently and a light shines out of the small cracks of the ground. –I feel in the heavens, my arm doesn't hurt; the white glow of PK Love is reflected on my face– I lift up my arm and I look at it… the power of love, the power of my wishes in my hand… is just beautiful how it represents my loved ones.

"What is that…?" Link asks, he tries to remain calm, but I can still feel the hesitation on his words.

"I haven't seen that before…" Ness tells him. He looks at me with fear, his pupils widen at the mere sight of the PK Love. I warned them… and they didn't hear; now they will have to pay a high price.

"Just run!" Lucario warns them, but it's too late.

"PK Love!" The energy leaves my hand, it travels like a huge sphere jointed to the ground –its velocity making cracks on the ground– and then reaches my enemies.

The last thing I can see before PK Love collides is Ness' eyes widen, but he doesn't give in –which is merely ridiculous–, that's when I see his arms moving around in crazy motions. The result: A PSI Shield, however, I can notice he is challenging my PK Love. He bends his PSI Shield in an 'U' form, so it traps my PK Love, and thus letting out Link and Lucario out of my attack's range, Ness is left alone versus the true power of love…

"No! What are you–" Link's words are interrupted by the explosion of PK Love. The entire scene is filled with a white light in the middle of the street.

I jog out of Link and Lucario's range, and get on top a nearby house… Before I go I just want to see PK Love's damage.

The white light dies down and everyone can see Ness' stupid maneuver result. I smirk at the scene… the building where we were on, it's half destroyed, wires, bricks and dust is all that remains. That was the top part. My eyes drift to the bottom, where Ness must be –or used to be.

One more cloud of smoke slowly dissipates and then I can have a look at the wreck. There he is… I find Ness in the lobby of said building, his unconscious body on the floor and shining upon him: shards of his broken PSI Shield floating in the air. I frown. Something is wrong, behind him, a group of people is mustered behind the lobby's desk; all of their frightened gazes are on Ness… My heart pumps guilt onto my blood and makes me want to surrender, but what is done is done. I should just leave this place. I stare at Ness' body one last time while Link and Lucario rush up to him trying to aid his friend.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

I have traveled four squares away from where the battle against Ness' squad was held. Somehow the guilt still tries to convince me in go back and help, but I can't do that, not now.

Due to my short advance in my escape, I have to stay hidden between alleys. I can't go out in the street either, thanks to the explosion when I tried to slash Ness with Claus' sword, my hood got almost entirely tore up and it's not very useful anymore. Also, I accidentally dropped my bag with my old clothes back where I encountered Ness' squad.

I peek out my head to see how populated is the street… that's when I hear more bad news –literally.

"Just an hour ago, Lucas was seen over at 'Crystal Shard' avenue; is known that he encountered three Smashers: Link, Ness and Lucario. A battle was held in said street, and thus a construction nearby was destroyed in hands of Lucas. This construction held at least two hundred persons…"

Two… two hundred…? And Ness saved them while I _attempted _to kill them. That would have been a mass murder. Apparently at then end I am a killer after all.

"…Thankfully, one of the Smashers: Ness, he was there to reduce the casualties, so far, eleven deaths have been counted…" Reduce? Eleven? I can't believe such words, is this how my fate is written? Those persons didn't deserve such fate. And what if Ness wasn't there or he decided to try and dodge PK Love… Two hundred deaths… It was a miracle I don't have to carry two hundred deaths. However, eleven of those two hundred are still on my shoulders.

My mission to restore life is taking more lives than the ones I'll recover.

My thoughts are interrupted by the lady on the news, after a short pause she continues. "Mario has spoken his opinions about this and he's heading to the incident's site along with other Smashers…"

I can't listen to this anymore, not only because it makes me realize how much damage I just did… I mean… Ness was willing to take the risk of confronting me, but all those innocent persons no. Besides, if Mario is coming I should get out of his range immediately.

I prepare to dash out of the alley into another one crossing the street. I start running as fast as I can, and the people watching the news don't seem to care about my presence. I enter successfully into the shadows of the alley. Alright, next move. Another street I have to cross, this one is larger, but it looks relatively empty. I shrug and ignore that.

With a deep breath I dash out of the shadows and into the street, but an unnerving noise stops me dead on my tracks. I want to continue but my body doesn't, I give in, and look into the sky where the noise is coming from. High above the buildings a huge airship covers the blue sky. Its build is weird, like the one of a space ship, and its nose is in the form of an… eagle, probably…?

I frown at the sight of this, but it looks like it's descending. The wind that roars out of the airship engine makes my hair go everywhere.

When the airship descends a considerable height, three figures jump out of the airship and land in the nearby roofs of the different buildings, from there, they jump out of the roofs landing roughly but without problems in the street… and I get a better look at them.

"I finally found you, Lucas."

"I'm not expecting a good treat from you, Mario. Just let me tell you: I have a goal and I will achieve it no matter what. I really don't mind killing you." I respond back with hate running through my veins, although I'm sure Mario's hate for me could actually burn through metal.

"Okay, listen: Lucas is a dangerous enemy, if you have to, kill him, but our first objective is to capture him," Mario says.

"Roger!" His two companions answer him, due to their tone, I can acknowledge that they're utterly under Mario's dictation.

When I separate my eyes from Mario to identify his companions my eyes widen, one of them is Samus, the amazing fighter that fought against me. I wonder what she is thinking right now…

And the other one, it's hard to tell, I'm pretty sure I saw him when they raided into my room back when I was fighting Luigi. His clothes –or should I say costume?– are something I haven't seen yet: his entire body is covered by a blue skintight suit, over his blue suit he carries golden colored gloves, a helmet that covers the upper part of his head, white and golden shoulder pads, more golden on his shoes… and the only part that isn't golden is his leather belt that carries the emblem of a falcon… Does this guy think he is a superhero or something? I shouldn't laugh at his vestment; he must be a formidable opponent.

"Falcon, I want you to get him by behind, alright?" Mario asked the man in his right, in response he nodded.

Mario proceeds to whisper his next words to Samus.

The three of them stand at the other side of the street. I'm waiting for their next move as I have learned to be patience.

The first one to move is who I think is named Falcon. He started running away from Mario and I see how dust is lifted from the ground… He's a fast one. He dashes through the sidewalk, his feet lifting dust as he pass by… but I can't forget about Samus. I return my gaze to the front and realize Samus is halfway here. She raises her arm cannon, I catch a shimmer from inside her cannon and in the next second, her cannon let go an energy ball.

"PK Counter!" I quickly react, the energy sphere collides into my PK Counter, dealing minimum damage to me and deflecting the sphere back to Samus. She sidesteps her own attack with ease and resumes her race towards me.

I remind myself that Falcon is in the battle as well, thus turning 360 degrees to meet a flaming punch, courtesy of him.

The attack knocks me to the floor. Falcon stands in front of me and tries to stomp my right arm –such a dirty move. I make him back up with a PSI shockwave; he retreats three meters giving me enough space to do my next move.

"PK Fire!" A ball of fire is shot from my hand and towards Falcon. With another flaming fist, he hits my PK Fire vanishing it in the air… The plumes of fire caused by my PK Fire prevent Falcon from noticing me approaching at high speed.

I have a free move against Falcon, but my PSI hasn't recovered completely, however I'm still able to pull off a decent move: "PK Thunder!" When my hand is close enough to him, it creates a small thunder and impacts Falcon with it. The mere shockwave sends him to the ground, I want to take the opportunity to retaliate, but my attention is suddenly taken by someone else…

I hear the whistling sound of the wind running through my right ear a moment before I notice Samus' energy beam –she used in our first fight– rushing towards me. I want to evade it, but it's too late. The energy beam gets a firm grip on my wounded arm, which not only raises the pain in an unbearable way, but it makes disturbing cracking sounds invade my ears. My eyes widen at the raw force of her beam and I just want to pass out and forget the pain, but my body refuses –that must be why MH gave me that badge before fighting Samus.

I fall to my knees, my now broken right arm hanging above my head as Samus haven't let go the energy beam. She approaches and the sun let me look through her visor. Her gaze looks flustered and maybe guilty. Could Samus don't want to do this…? That must be the case. After all, Mario is the head of the organization and what he dictates must be done.

"My arm is broken and I don't want to move, you couldn't at least take that thing off my arm, it's making the pain unbearable," I tell Samus, once she halts in front of me. My gaze is on the ground, waiting for her answer.

"I can't, Lucas. Not only I'm under strict orders to capture you, but I know very well you're a smart fighter, even with that broken arm you can run away."

I must say that my primary intention was not to escape but to reduce the pain in my arm; however, in the corner of my mind the idea of escaping is still present.

"What will you do to me? I mean the organization."

"I don't have the slightest idea, if you didn't know; this is the first time something like this occurs."

She downcasts her eyes to the ground, and I can feel the energy beam grip weakling on my arm. I hate to take advantage of her feelings of guilt, but my goal is reflected in my heart.

I slip my left hand inside my pocket and search for the thunder sword's shaft. Here… I grip it tightly and ready my next move.

In a swift motion I take the sword out while it turns on. Samus veers his head to see what I am doing. She gasps when Claus' sword connects with her energy beam separating our link in a show of sparks.

I get up and dash away from Samus' range. I don't even start my escape when Falcon appears in front of me. I skid to the right trying to evade any contact… but it's futile. A force that could easily be compared with the one of a Steel Mechorilla –a chimera I fought back in the Nowhere Islands; as it names applies, it was a giant ape reinforced with metal parts… a formidable enemy– bashes my stomach and knocks me to the ground, careening my body a few meters –it was a_ mere _kick from Mario.

"You should have stayed where you were," Mario tells me with a dominant tone. He walks up to Samus and whispers something in her hear, I can barely distinguish what he says. "If I wasn't here we would have already lost Lucas, I don't want more mistakes like that."

Falcon gets to their position, but neither Falcon nor Samus can utter a word; Mario turns her back on them and walks furiously towards me.

"Admit it, you enjoyed that–" the pain from my arm interrupts my words, but Mario understands the message.

"Of course I did," he says getting closer. "And you will feel my justice on you, very soon."

"Justice? That is bull–" before I can finish, Mario kicks me on the face, he recovers his dominant stance after I sit up again.

"You should shut up," Mario says. I stay silent, not in signal of me obeying, but because I don't want to listen to his nonsense anymore.

Mario jerks both of my arms –which make me grunt in pain loudly, something he doesn't care hearing– and rises me. Then, he turns my back facing him before I feel a sudden constriction on my wrists.

What is this? I try moving my hands, but it appears like Mario put me handcuffs.

I lost sight on Samus or Falcon until wind starts hitting my face, I veer my sight upwards to see the massive airship descending to the ground.

"Come with me," Mario commands me. I follow each of his steps, so I don't move my arm in the process, however, it still moves with the motions of my body, and I bite my lip trying to forget the pain.

When the airship touches ground, Falcon comes out of the prow. He approaches and taps the airship's back door. "Everything is ready, Mario. There's a special cell inside, Link and Lucario will be with him at all time."

"Link and Lucario? They couldn't stop Lucas earlier this day, I hope they can watch him," Mario says as we enter the airship. As we walk through the corridor of the ship, I notice various people inside as well. I recognize two of them: One is the same dinosaur-like creature I saw after the fight with Samus.

The other one is a person around my age –maybe a couple of years older. By glancing his outfit, I acknowledge it resembles one of the royalty. While his blue hair covers most of his face, I notice his downwards gaze is following his hands, which are honing his sword.

My inspection is interrupted by Mario pushing me, in signal to walk faster. I jerk my left arm out of his range. After going through a pair of corridors in the airship, we halt in front of a metal door. "You gotta be kidding," I say.

"Shut up," Mario responds. There is a number pad adjacent to the metal door, he starts typing a sequence of numbers. I don't care in finding out which numbers he is typing, I will not be able to open the door from the inside. He presses one more number and a beep sounds. The door slides open revealing Lucario and Link inside. I sigh when we notice each other.

"Enter," Mario commands. I enter into the armored room, but before Mario closes the door, I have one more thing to say.

"This won't stop me!"

Mario glares at me and throw a punch to my face.

"My arm!" I whine as I fall in my back and thus over my arms. The door closes before me; I'm now trapped with Link and Lucario.

"How could you do that?" Link asks from nowhere, I suppose he's talking about Ness. He is looking at his sword and apparently doesn't care that I'm on the floor.

"I told you I was going to get you out of my way, besides, I gave you an opportunity, but you didn't care."

Lucario enters casually in the conversation. "Lucas, you know that with that last attack you almost killed several people? Ness saved them most of them."

I rise and turn to Lucario, who is sitting in the opposite side of Link. "Yes, I know! I didn't want to put their lives in danger, though."

Lucario's piercing red eyes are lock on me, his next words confident as always. "Remember when you told us about the Pigmask Army?"

No... He won't use that against me. "Don't dare to continue, I know my home better than-"

My words are cut abruptly by Lucario's. "You told us, their experiments and goals led to mass murders and severe damage to countless parts of the Nowhere Islands..." He listened to every single word I said. His knowledge of my own history is a bit unnerving... Using my memories against me is causing me nostalgia. "And now you have turned into one of them, perhaps?"

"Of course NO!" I wish I could use my hands, I would shut him up.

"See, Lucas? What were you thinking? Perhaps, as a little fact, you psychokinesis won't work with those things on." I groan looking at the handcuffs –I notice the handcuffs' build is strange, hence its effect– and take a sit.

"Lucas?" Link speaks breaking the silence. Personally, I don't give a crap on what he says at this moment.

"What you want?"

"When we: the Smashers were called to take a decision of what was going to be done with your situation, Ness was the first one to speak for you, he said he knew that you weren't the _same_ Lucas we saw with Luigi." Link pauses to meet his gaze with mine. "He knew something fishy was going on. However, most of us didn't agree with him."

"Did you think the same as him?"

"I'll be sincere: no. I think Lucario neither."

Lucario backs up Link's words. "You're right."

"And what happened?"

Lucario continues. "We decided capturing you was the best option."

I remain silent. Ness was really backing me up? I don't have a reason to counter his strange reactions… It could be that Ness was _truly _in my side? He's way of thinking is very intriguing.

After a pause, Lucario keeps talking. I get confused by his words. "By the way, we haven't given up with your brother."

What? Are they still willing to help me…? I'm utterly flustered. However, I don't know if it will be the same, after those past accidents, I don't have any idea how this will end, or if I shall trust in their words.

"He's right. I don't know how, but we will help you with Luigi's problem as well," Link opens his mouth one last time.

With those last words, the rest of our flight back to the Smash Mansion –I suppose– is silent. Link and Lucario left me with a bunch of questions, specially questions about what he told me at the end, I still can't believe they want to continue helping me… it may be a trap setup by that bastard of Porky, but I think I'll have to throw the dices and see what happens next.


	7. Common Enemy

**At last! After several months of being lazy, I have finished this chapter.**

Purestrongpoem** : Thanks :D**  
>Roseal<strong> : Oh, really :S I would tell you to ask any questions... but by this time you must have figured out any confusion. And I will!<strong>  
>Guest<strong> :Yeah, Ness is an excellent friend indeed. It's good :)<strong>

**In this chapter we see what happens to Lucas after being apprehended, and learn some of the backstory. Hope you enjoy :D**

* * *

><p>I can't believe they will have me here as an animal.<p>

A few hours ago, when we arrived to the Smash Mansion, Lucario and Link escorted me to the entrance of the mansion. When the rest of the crew aboard of the flying machine exited the vehicle, Mario, along with Samus and Falcon took Lucario and Link's position. However, just before we entered the mansion, Mario put on my eyes a pair of black goggles with black-tainted glasses, so I couldn't see where we were going.

On the way to our next destination, Falcon and Samus grabbed one of my arms, each one. They were in complete silence (maybe afraid of Mario's mood at the moment). Nevertheless, I could still feel Mario's anger around myself. It didn't take him too much before opening his mouth again. "I swear, Lucas, I will take this on my own hands, and I'll make sure you receive what you deserve," he told me once. "First, my own blood, Luigi, and now, Ness… At some point, something told me it was a bad idea to bring you here," he said not much later.

At all those words, I said nothing. Remaining silent was my only weapon at that moment... An useless weapon by the way.

We walked for some minutes until we stopped. I heard someone walking from behind to my front. My goggles were carelessly taken off of my eyes. I struggle for a brief moment, but it only caused Falcon and Samus hardening their grasp on me. "This is where you will be until we have a final decision for you."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

And here I am now, in a very small gray room. This obviously resembles a cell. It has a bed and a toilet… but what really unnerves me is the crystal hanging from the ceiling. It's stuck up on the ceiling and I can't have a better look at it due to the height of this place.

As I expected from my apprehension, Mario didn't take the handcuffs off. I don't know if the cell is PSI-proof, but I can't manage to take them off. I can just wait until Mario decides to do his next move.

I'm sitting in the bed… I can't do any more due my arm and the handcuffs. Lucario said the handcuffs were PSI-proof, but he said they were developed using Ness as the tester. My PSI is by far different to his. Maybe I have a chance of taking this thing out.

I try separating my hands at least half an inch, but it's impossible, the handcuffs don't give any space. I can feel a couple of sweat drops trickling down my chin, but I pay little care to this.

I try to move the injured arm into a better position… But I can't! "These damn things won't move!" My words echo all around the small room, repeating the phrase a couple times.

"OK… maybe now… PK Fire!" I shout… and for a moment I feel the flame coming to live in both of my hands, however, the sensation goes away in an instant getting replaced by exhaustion. Extreme exhaustion.

"What the…" A powerful light comes from above my head. Is it the crystal? When the light dies down I can get a glance on the crystal, something it's glowing on its inside, it looks like energy.

This just frustrates me more. I feel like depositing the anger in something, and I do. I veer towards the door and kick it frantically… once, then twice, and one more time. My foot hurts and this won't get me anyway… Obviously.

The hours pass and pass. One, two, three… I can't count any more without a watch or something, but I bet is already night.

"How much more time?" I ask to no-one but myself. I can only pray, so I can get out of this one alive… After all, I only want to save my home.

I'm already feeling the tiredness of today's events. I should take advantage of this time to sleep… I doubt I will get much more later on.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Lucas?"

"Wake up."

I don't know if those are voices on my head, or someone real. Yesterday's events left me without energy; I just want to sleep a little more…

Apparently, my head is not playing any tricks… This means I'll have to get up to see who is calling me.

I open my eyes slowly as I have to adapt to a different light source than the one in the room. I roll to my left, and notice there is no longer a door.

"Wha…?" In a swift motion I get up, and leap towards the doorframe. Why would they take away the metal door?

"Morning, Lucas." Link walks into my eyesight, staying in the other side of the doorframe, drinking a cup of something.

I frown at him. And that's how I enter in deception as I spot a reflection where the door is supposed to be.

"Oh, that's reinforced glass. It's PSI-proof as well, so please don't try anything," Link speaks just after noticing my movement toward the doorframe.

I reach out and touch the glass, gently. Indeed, it seems pretty strong. There's no way I can break it without PSI. "What you want?" I ask him looking him in his eyes.

"Just wanted to know if you were okay."

"Oh, how considerate," I say, the sarcasm dripping from my mouth. "I still don't see the purpose of your visit. I doubt you will let me go."

"Well, I was wondering if I you could tell me the real reason why you attacked Luigi." As the words leave his mouth my head gets flooded with possible explanations and the big choice of telling him about Porky or stay quiet.

"I'm waiting."

I glance everywhere in signal of doubt before speaking again. "Alright…"

I take a moment to think about my next words, followed by a deep breath. "You remember what I told you before, right? About my brother and I."

"Yeah, I do."

"The person behind all of this was the leader of the army that caused so much death and sorrow in my homeland. He has, just like me, PSI. He traveled in time using his PSI so much times that he started aging quite faster than normal, until his body stopped counting the years, he looks like an old child, hence keeping his mentality. The case is that when his body stopped aging he turned into an immortal person unable to die by natural causes…"

I pause for a brief moment, I hate reliving all of this, but at least I can see Link's attention is on me. I look away from him, my sorrow is very noticeable, and before I get even angrier I want to finish this. "As I was saying, he can't die by natural causes, and I had to response to this. Remember I told about this mission I had in my homeland." He nods and waits for me to continue, "Well, as I told you, I had to get to seven needles and pull them. When I was at the last one, I fought my brother…"

"Who was controlled by this immortal guy…"

I manage a brief smile. He has listened to me. "Yeah, exactly. In the fight he regained control of himself, and he was bold enough to…" I can't help but feel sad again, that moment changed everything… However I'm –somehow– proud to tell this. "…use his PK Thunder against my Franklin Badge, which deflects electricity… causing his death by his own hands. Then there was my opportunity to pull the seventh and last needle."

"And regardless of everyone's effort and boldness… he came back, the one that caused everything. I fought him just before my brother, but he teleported away and lost track of him. When I was about to pull the last needle my friend shouted…"

My sight was replaced by the events told, I can see how Kumatora shouts, and I turn around and see him.

"She… she called my name. Her voice was already devastated and tired. When I heard her I turned around and saw him. He was riding his almost destroyed spider machine, and looked at me. He yelled 'This is not over yet', and before I could do anything a red light shot out of his machine, it completed coated my brother and I."

Link noticed me slowly drifting away from reality, and so he decided to speak up. "What happened next, Lucas?"

"I remember my dad telling me that I past out for like an hour. As soon as I could stand up I walked up to the last needle and pulled it. But nothing turned out as I wanted to. The needles released the Dark Dragon and the heart of the person that pulled the needle… Hmm, 'transfers' to the Dragon, and depending if the person is good or bad the Dragon's power may be able to kill us all or bring a whole civilization back to life…"

"In that case, you reverted everything that was done?"

I noticed how the conversation turned out from who… that monster was, to what happened. I don't mind at all as I can see Link's intention is good. "No, unfortunately. The Magypsies, the ones who put on this mission said that my heart was good and pure, but my brother's soul and spiritual body was inside of me–thanks to the strange red laser–, and after being controlled by that monster his heart wasn't pure at all. So what happened was everything I wanted that caused harm and destruction was done, but everything that brought life was rejected. That means I could get rid of the evil army and bring some peace, but everything done to my homeland was… done, it didn't revert."

"That means your reason for coming here was to find out a way to separate you from your brother so you can be able to pull those needles?"

He explained it in the best context I can think of. My answer comes with a kind look. "Yes, Link." However, my eyes changed from kind ones to ones that showed rage, anger, and hate. "I think all of this brings me to the name of that… if can be called person…" I can hardly think of those five letters, now I have to say it. "His name is Porky… the person I'm in the pursuit of."

It took a moment for Link to respond. Apparently he's understood everything, but apart of my actual mood I can 'feel' something is bugging him… I wonder what?

"I see… But there is something wrong with that name…"

Yeah, that name brings chaos and suffering, what else you thought. "…"

Link stays in his pensive manner for a moment, then speaks, "Does he go by another name, alias, I don't know, something along the lines?"

Hmm, strange question I must say. However, I have it in the tip of my tongue; I just need to recall it… Still, it seems like an out-of-the-topic question, should it have a purpose? "Why?"

"I may know something, but first you need to remember."

Link's words only take me to the land of curiosity. What could he know about… Porky? I can only say I'm being driven by the question.

Focusing deeply while blocking any other noise or image, I can get access to Porky's filled-of-himself speeches, only to find something useful.

"_In another era I was called Pokey. When I wasn't called names, the people… no, those freaks used my name only to add something that would hurt more. Although, that is history, now that I'm the King of everything, the people call me Porky while they kiss my ass."_

As soon as the memory finished it was like teleporting back to the normal world. That can't be normal… it must be something regarding PSI. I didn't know I could access my mind like that using PSI…

"Something?" Link asks interrupting my newfound discovery. That doesn't matter now, and thus he receives a useful answer.

"Yes, I recall he said he used to be called Pokey." I wait until he examined my answer, apparently something has clicked.

"Pokey… I think Ness have told us about him," Link says as my eyes go wide. Ness and Pokey? That can't be possible. Who'd have thought it…? Definitely not the best time to almost kill Ness, now that I need to see him.

"Has he woken up yet?"

"No, but I'll see if I can speak to him about this. If we are talking about the same Pokey, Ness will be really helpful in your future release."

"That's great!" Finally, some good news, I can only hope he'll still be willing to help me after all.

"In that case I will leave you now," Link says as he stretches his legs after so much time without moving. "By the way, you will receive attention for that arm in anytime the next hour."

A smile escapes my lips. He has proven his loyalty –just like Lucario and Ness– and I'm glad I have trust in him. From here on I'll have him in my list of allies… maybe one of the few I have had in all of this. "I'm very grateful, Link, thanks. And if you get to speak to Ness anytime soon, please send him my greetings."

"I will. For now you should rest and wait for the medical attention, and after that we'll plan our next move." He walks away in a faster-than-normal pace. Hopefully, his first task will be going with Ness. I'm eager to talk to him. If he really does know Porky, we won't only have PSI in common, but hopefully someone to hate as well. Besides, Ness is a veteran between the Smashers, Mario have to believe in his words, which may as well be connected with the reason of my attack towards Luigi.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

I have been waiting for the medical attention to come, and if I'm not wrong it has been around 30 minutes or so.

After lying down for sometime I get up and walk up to the glass –which after Link's visit wasn't removed. I try to look outside for any kind of activity, but I see none…

Few more minutes passed and different voices echo outside this room.

"Are you ready?" I hear a voice asking, but I hear no responses.

A person enters in the room outside my cell, quickly catching my attention. I examine his face and recall I saw him when Mario apprehended me; this person was inside the flying machine.

Once again, he is sporting royalty-like clothing: a long cape that coats his whole rear, a blue, long sleeved tunic (which is closed in place thanks to a fancy belt). His pants are a darker blue just like his footwear. This time, his precious sword is kept in its shaft, mostly hidden by the cape.

I was going to speak up, although, I hear more footsteps getting closer. I wait a couple of seconds and a second person enters. This one's clothing looks kind of similar to the first person's. However, he doesn't gives off the same royalty feeling. He is wearing a tattered brown cape and white pants along with brown boots. His tunic is a darker blue than the former one.

The two young men stood at ease in front of my cell, adjacent to each other but separated by a few feet at the same time.

"And who are you?" I asked trying to look menacing… I know, pretty stupid when I'm in a cell PSI-proof and with handcuffs.

The problem is that this may be another of Mario's tricks, and this time I don't have any sort of defense.

More footsteps are heard getting closer. And now what? Are they doing a party here or what!

"How are you doing, Lucas?"

A young lady enters in the room. With a smile she approaches me and the other two guys. This time, she really looks from the royalty, maybe she is a queen or a princess.

"My name is Zelda, and we're here to take you to the medical center of the mansion," she says, "I think Link told you something about it."

I take a moment before talking when I notice something in her beautiful white dress with purple details. In the center it has a design I have seen before. A yellow triangle, which inside has another triangle without color… just like in Link's shield… Are they related in some way?

"That's good," I say nonchalantly. I still have my doubts. Yeah, Zelda seems like a good person, but I have learned to trust in nobody. The younger of the swordsmen was in the moment of my apprehension; he must know how to handle me. And the other seems as dangerous as the first one.

It's just that I want to have a backup plan–in case anything happens–, not the easiest thing to do when I'm totally _disabled._

"Okay, Lucas, we'll take out of here," the taller swordsman says, "When I deactivate the glass door you'll walk out slowly, I'll put this on your eyes…" he shows me the same goggles I used when they got me in here. "…then Princess Zelda, Prince Marth," he signaled the younger swordsman, "and myself, Ike Greil will take you to the medical center where you will be treated. Understood?"

Before I can utter my response, Prince Marth tells me, "And we want no problem. Very few of us (I suppose he refers to the Smashers) agreed to get you out of here and treat that arm, while the majority won't hesitate in harm you in the case of your misbehavior."

"I won't do anything unless in self-defense," I tell him, clarifying my point: I'm not here to do harm.

Suddenly, Ike laughs, which make me feel like he's not taking me serious. "We're not going to kill you or something, kid, it's just a stroll to the medical center, nothing will happen."

I keep my silence and gave them a blank gaze. Princess Zelda walks up to the numbed pad adjacent to the glass door. She types 10 numbers and the pad responds with a beep.

"Turn to the wall, Lucas," Princess Marth commands me. I hate to obey to such orders, but I understand this time and do as I was told.

I get a glimpse of the glass door opening upwards. Marth and Ike enter in the room. One of them puts the goggles on my eyes. And they start leading my path towards the medical center.

We've walked for less than a minute when I get a piercing pain in my arm. "Oh, sorry," I hear Ike forgiving.

"I'm supposing you will clear Luigi's issue soon?" Marth asks me.

"I just need to speak to Ness before anything."

"Really? In that case you shouldn't have blasted him."

My head drifts to the right, and I look up trying to meet Ike's eyes. I noticed that he was the one putting the goggles, so Marth must have been in the other side–left–covering his friend. It was easy to surprise Ike by staring at his eyes without me using my own to find him. "You don't know how it happened, therefore you shouldn't speak so secure on your words," I speak with a firm voice.

"I know more than enough, trust me."

"Hmph…"

"Well, in that case, Lucas, you should hurry; there are some plans for you already–"

"Marth!" I hear Ike rising his voice in an instant. "That information is for the Smashers only, something he's not anymore."

"Hmm…" Marth responds almost silently. He doesn't seem very positive with Ike's answer. "Whatever."

Minutes pass and we continue walking until finally coming to a halt.

"Alright, we're here. Guys, please take the goggles off," Princess Zelda says.

I feel the goggles slowly loosing from my head. I wait until they take them off completely, and see the sunlight coming from nearby windows. I blink a few times to let my eyes get used once again.

"Enter, please," Princess Zelda asks. I do as told and enter through a sliding-glass door.

I doubt this is the medical center, it doesn't resemble an hospital room in any way, or maybe this is the center I get being a prisoner.

"Take a seat, this will be quick," she tells me.

I sit down on the nearest seat, or in this case the bed. The room is very simple with white walls, a closet, a pair of chairs and a window directing to the outside…

"I don't see anything useful for my arm," I say noticing the lack of any special machine or something along the lines.

"It's in front of you," she says… and I still don't get it. "I can use magic, Lucas. I can use it to cure as well."

"Oh, good, never thought of it."

Princess Zelda took off her right glove. In the back of her hand she has the same yellow triangle as in her dress. That's odd, what could it mean?

"Ike," she calls the swordsman, who is leaning on the wall.

"Yes, Zelda?" he responds back without taking his eyes off of me.

"Would you take the handcuffs off?"

"Hmm, I don't think it's the best idea."

"His arm is broken, Ike."

Good. Apparently, Princess Zelda is nicer than I thought.

"He didn't need that arm to almost kill Ness, I remind you." Those last words put an end to the conversation. He is right, however, I promised to stay calm and that's how I'll stay.

"That's why you are here, Ike, just take 'em off," Princess Zelda practically commanded.

Ike's gaze tells me he is not happy with Zelda's decision. He looks at me with anger, and proceeds to glance at Marth.

"It's okay," Prince Marth tries to reassure Ike, it didn't do much, though.

The latter audibly groans, and approaches me. He gets closer with key in hand. I feel his breath for a moment. "You better not do something."

The handcuffs make a click and they get removed by Ike. "Alright."

"Thank you, Ike. Now, please back up, I need space."

Ike gives a few steps back. With her left arm, Zelda grabs my left in the most careful way I've ever seen. I feel some pain, but try to hide it, it would only concern Zelda. She takes a deep breath and a bright light-blue light surrounds her hand. The triangle on Zelda's hand starts glowing followed by the light enveloping my whole arm. The pain is replaced by a funny tickling sensation as my arm begins looking normal again.

"Just a little more," she says.

I don't have to wait much more until I can feel the arm again. I raise it up to look at it clearly.

"It may feel strange at first. The human body is not supposed to heal that fast."

I nod, and indeed it feels strange, out of place. I don't remember suffering a wound like this, so I have never had the chance to know the sensation of PSI after healing something alike.

"Wow, thank you," I say drifting my eyes from my arm to her face. "You're very powerful."

"Why, your welcome." A brief smile shows up on her face until Ike has to speak once again.

"Now that you are done, I will put the handcuffs again."

"Ike, his arm is still weak. I highly recommend leaving him here," Princess Zelda (to my surprise) suggests.

"Perhaps, you didn't treat it?" Ike asks back.

Apparently Ike doesn't know how Princess Zelda's magic work, if he did, he would know that my arm is perfect now. I will have to thank Zelda later.

"Of course I did," she responds with a higher tone. "Still, any magic can't completely restore a wound, you also have to let your body work along.

Ike groaned in disagreement with Princess Zelda, although realizing that she won the argument. "Geez, Zelda, I can't believe you are being this nice with Lucas," he paused for a moment to get closer to Zelda, "he has almost killed two of our friends."

I can see Princess Zelda acknowledges Ike's words. As the irritation comes to her face she says some last words. "I will let Mario know Lucas will be staying here, and if you don't like it you can stay outside the room watching."

"I have to go now, Lucas."

"Sure. Thanks Princess," it is the least I can say for now.

Nonchalantly, she walked out of the room leaving Ike inside and Prince Marth at the door.

"I can't believe this. I will have to talk to Mario," Ike tells Marth.

"Wait," Prince Marth halts him. "What about him? At least two should watch over him."

I can hear everything. Not only Prince Marth doesn't feel comfortable staying with me but he also stopped Ike from getting to Mario.

I wonder what Mario will say. He won't be happy with Zelda's instructions. The best would be if he takes it without causing a mess, which would be better over him coming here.

The door of the room is closed with Ike and Prince Marth outside. Not much time goes before Ike enters and walks up to me with the handcuffs in his hand.

"Those things again?" I ask. I'm not against them taking security measures; it is just that with those things I feel useless and powerless. The easiest target.

"You were lucky Zelda acted kindly with you. However, that doesn't mean you will go without punishment. You are still a prisoner."

"…" I stay at the bed and offer my wrists to Ike, who without a word takes my left wrist to handcuffs said wrist to the rail of the bed.

"That's better." He leaves the room locking it after him.

The hours go by, and while I don't have anything to do (besides waiting for Ness) I try to ponder on something I haven't given the necessary attention to.

"_You are just provoking an invasion…"_

That's what I heard the moment before fighting Ness and the others. I'm afraid to say that the one behind that message was Porky. Even worse, he had enough power to connect our minds–when I have trained to deny any strange link. He could communicate with me from wherever he is. He has gotten very powerful.

Although, that's not what troubles me the most, but the word 'invasion'. What he meant? I was going to fall in his hands, too. But how? By the means of said invasion? Anyhow, where will that invasion be, unle–

I hear a knock on the door, which lands me back to the Earth.

"It's us: Ness, Lucario and Link!" Link's voice comes from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, come in!" I call back.

The door opens revealing an always-unhappy Ike, the curious face of Prince Marth and my three visitors. The one in the middle far smaller than the other two, because of the wheelchair he is using.

"Ness," I say with a lamenting tone.

Clearly–and understandingly–he responds with slight displeasure in his voice. "Hey, Lucas." I can't believe it. If I'd have to bet about it, I think Ness has pushed aside what happened yesterday. I couldn't have done that.

Lucario pushes Ness to the left side of the bed while Link takes a seat in the opposite one.

"I understand we have a… enemy in common, right?" Ness says with a lackluster voice. He doesn't seem comfortable talking about _that _enemy. Just as me.

"It looks like."

"That may be fortunate for you…" he ponders for a second, then adds, "and me."

He took a more firm sitting in his wheelchair before going straight to the point. "How is Pokey? I mean how does he look like?"

I don't even have to think about it, his features are scarred in my head. "He has a gray, bowl haircut. He always seems to wear gray clothing with buttons on them."

Ness looks disappointed. "I don't remember him looking like that… I mean he used to wear the same kind of clothes and the bowl haircut… it may just a coincidence."

"What about his personality?" I ask him, which lighten his gaze a little more.

"He always used to have this twisted smile, taking everything like a game… Also, he was addicted to destruction; I think he wanted to just kill us all. I can't forget him."

"We may have a similarity in here. When I faced him, he was ageless. He said that after traveling through time as much as he did, he turned immortal. Although, he looked as an aged kid; hence the gray hair, I would say."

"I remember him being so… selfish and egotistical, and before he was gone forever he seemed so corrupted by power and hate."

"Same here. He didn't mind killing several people, he just wanted to see his wishes fulfilled. Just like you said, he seemed corrupted, only caring in living to see the end of the world."

The conversation seemed to go well. As Ness and I found more and more similarities there was no doubt _his _Pokey is _my _Porky.

"In this case I think we'll be able to save you from any future sentence…"

Even though Lucario hadn't spoken throughout the whole conversation he suddenly entered reviving a point I had almost forgotten. "That won't change the fact that Mario will still be seeking his vengeance towards Lucas."

"Lucario is right, he won't leave you alone after this."

It keeps me thinking for a moment. Indeed, Mario will not just stand there watching me continue my mission. If anything is for sure, is the fact that I will still have to deal with him. "However, that is not the information I've got. There's something that happened me yesterday regarding Porky."

"Yestarday?" he asked himself.

"That. Porky contacted me psychically."

"What!" By the sheer force of Ness' surprise he almost falls over. Thankfully, Lucario was helping him at the moment.

"It was a very short message, but it frightens me what could it mean." I pause for a moment remembering the exact words he said. It's hard after thinking from who I got it. "He said I was provoking an invasion and I will fall in his hands."

"An invasion?" Link stood firmer at the mention of the word. I can't blame him; an invasion can't be taken slightly.

"Yeah… I don't know why he said that. It can't be good, though."

Ness rolled his eyes. Obviously it can't be good. "We'll have to talk with Master Hand about this. If Pokey knows where you are, and then told you about an invasion it can only be here."

"Wait, the only place he can attack is here… or my…" My hand goes to my forehead in stress. The Smash Mansion isn't the only place I know. There is another one. "Dammit! The islands! He can attack them."

"Where you come from?" Lucario spoke through the head of everyone.

"Yeah…" My voice went out muffled by the hand in my mouth.

"Do you really think he would attack there while you are here, it's not very likely," Link says. It looks like he is just trying to make calm me down; I doubt he would be that ignorant of thinking that.

Suddenly, in the silence of the room a loud knock invades the room followed by Ike opening the door. "Your time is over."

"Since when do we have a timer for visiting our friend," Lucario smartly replies.

Ike cringes at the mention of 'friend', he doesn't seem comfortable with Lucario calling me a friend. "Zelda said he needed rest." A grin appears in Ike's face. "Besides, Mario is not happy with you visiting Lucas. Remember he is still a prisoner."

"For now," Ness mutters glancing at me.

"Come on, let's go," Link says pointing towards the door. "Tomorrow we'll take Lucas out of here."

"Rest well," Lucario tell me before walking out of the room.

"Goodnight." Link walks over to Ness to help him in the wheelchair.

Ike exits the room, but leaves the door opened so Ness can exit easily.

I watch how Ness leaves the room along with Link. I know my brother would tell me to be thankful for what those three have done, mostly Ness. _"Thanks, friend. I owe you one," _I connect our minds psychically

I don't expect an actual response from Ness. After what I've done to him, maybe he is still here because he wants to get to Pokey or because he wants to help. But, I am wrong. Moving away in his wheelchair, Ness stretches out a hand giving me a peace sign.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

After a long day I can finally get some sleep. Ness and the others left some hours ago, and since then I've been trying to sleep, something that is not very comfortable with handcuffs.

The room atmosphere tells me to take advantage of this "free" night out of my cell. It's almost utterly dark, if it was not for the moonlight barely entering through the window at my left.

Please, I just want to sleep. There's still this negative vibe, though. I wonder if Ike and Marth are still out there.

As in cue, I hear the door's knob. "What you want?" I ask, welcoming who I expect is Ike with the same tone he would do.

"It's not Ike…" Oh, no, that voice.

I try to sit up quickly, but I'm propelled back thanks to the handcuffs.

Suddenly the lights go on causing stars and flashes in my sight. I blink trying to shake off the feeling, and finally I can see him.

Mario stands in the door, while behind him I see a fatter copy of him sporting yellow clothes and a thicker–and even uglier–mustache.

Mario walks into the room, leaving his fatter copy outside, who soon gets accompanied by the big orange-beige Dragon I saw after fighting Samus. With these three here I can't ensure my safety.

"Mario! What a surprise!" I tell him, trying not to sound friendly or rude. After all, he holds my freedom in his hands.

"We have some stuff to discuss, Lucas." From behind he takes out a brown rod. He then proceeds to turn it on revealing a powerful stun rod ready to electrify its target.

I try breaking the rail of the bed with brute force jerking my arm to the opposite side. Obviously, my strength is not enough, leaving me powerless and weaponless in front of Mario.

The door closes with Mario's companions outside, and the two of us inside, alone.

* * *

><p><strong>Definitely, I wouldn't like to be in Lucas' shoes at this moment.<strong>  
><strong>Thanks for reading; see you in the next chapter... hopefully soon.<strong>

**I think I should change the cover anytime soon.**


	8. First Glimpse of the Beast

**Yesh! Finally. I seriously intended to upload this chapter before Christmas but I got sick and I just resumed with this chapter two days ago. Hopefully you will like this one. Not a lot of action, but if this fic had sections, this chapter would be the opening for a new and important section. Any error you encounter let me know.**

** Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"W-What you want?" I asked, stuttering words.<p>

"I want to assure everyone's safety."

He walks around the room to my left side, where coincidentally I am more exposed. "In that case, I do not see your purpose in here."

"You think I'm stupid?"

"To be honest–"

"Please," he puts his free hand on the stun rod. "Don't start."

I cringe at the lack of power I have in the situation. I hate to do it but I shut my mouth; better not risk myself before someone like Mario.

"What I meant, Lucas," he tells me. "I know you are planning your way out of here already."

"There's no such thing as an 'escape' going on… It's you going crazy."

"The problem is, whenever you are loose bad things happen. My brother, your so called friend, Ness," Ness… He's a point but I didn't mean to hurt him. The image of him on his wheelchair makes me feel depressed. "Who knows who will be next? You are just an animal looking for its next victim, and I won't let that happen."

"That's the problem, there is a reason…"

"What? Lust for violence?"

"No, something bigger threatens everyone's safety."

His eyes meet mine, his gaze locked on me for a few seconds before saying, "Look," he slightly swung the stun rod. "I really want you outta here."

I try to sit straighter to put some resistance to his menacing eyes. "I will leave when I'm done with my stuff."

"Oh, no…" he says. "As soon as you and your friends run out of excuses for you to stay and that arm gets 'better' you will leave. We won't see your face around here anymore."

"Why can't you get it?" I raise my voice. "I have to stay. There are several things to do yet. Besides, Ness and the others will talk with Master Hand about a certain issue." Mario frowns. "You can join them if you want."

"No. Just no!" He raises the stun rod and hover it inches above my leg. My eyes widen.

"Stop… Seriously."

"I'm starting to lose my patience. If it was for me, I would kill you here…" I gulp at his grim and merciless tone. "However, I shouldn't, as it is unnecessary. Soon you will be gone."

My eyes travel from him to the stun rod… It inches closer with each second.

Finally, he presses the stun rod against my leg. My nerves go crazy as sparks travel all over my body.

I try flailing, but his free arm pins me down perfectly. "Mario, dammit! Stop it!"

If I could just use PSI. Fire, fire, fire, I repeat several times in my head. Come on!

My leg continues to be charred with electricity, leaving marks of black. Mario grits his teeth with anger. The bastard is enjoying every second of this. Not for long, though.

A fade essence of fire comes to my arms with the price of the handcuffs causing a strange and painful sensation. Trying to withstand the horrible pain, I clench my right, slightly-burning fist. I make sure Mario's too busy pinning me down. Good. I swing my fist, and succesfully collides with Mario's cheek.

He stumbles backwards and supports himself with the wall opposite to the bed. After what felt like an eternity, the electricity goes away.

"I warned you," I say.

Mario shakes his head. With his free hand he touches the affected side of his face. "Can't believe I didn't see it coming."

I swear silently. Perhaps, that barely disoriented him? The PSI wasn't at its full potential, but my punch was. And to see Mario recover so quickly makes me uneasy. He notices my face and say, "Was that all your strength? In that case it's incredible you managed to take down Ness."

"Don't attempt to fake it in front of me–that almost take you down," I respond. I bend my leg to reach it with my right hand. I can't use PSI, so I rub it… as if it would make the horrible pain go away.

"Never mind, both of us know the truth," he tells me with a crushing confidence in himself. The worst part is that indeed that was all I could muster.

"You know," he starts. "I brought the stun rod just to show you… mercy."

"Mercy?" I bark.

"Yes. The stun rod was a small detail. I can do a lot more with…" He pauses, driftshis eyes to the stun rod and crushes it with a frightening strength. "My own hands."

I glance at the floor, the leftovers from the stun rod spitting sparks. My stomach seems to flutter about when he finishes his words. Something suddenly floods my nerves. Something almost unrecognizableafter all these years: Fear.

"And now?" he asks with cockiness. "Too frightened to speak?"

"No," I speak with false confidence. "I was thinking of how you will cover this!" I point at the burned leg and the mess we have done.

"I won't have to cover it." He walks closer to my burned leg. I try to pull my leg away from him. Obviously this doesn't work since I'm my movement is so limited, is only my instinct working by its own.

"You won't?"

"No, because you tried to escape using your PSI." He winks. One of his hands lit up**. **A couple of fireballs come out from his hand aiming at the white sheets on the bed. Said sheets turn a bright red, quickly, then a charred black. I tried extinguishing the fire with my right hand. After repeated pounding on the closest blaze it goes off.

Mario approaches the door, opens it and look at his hands. Once again, his fists are lit up and he shot several fireballs, igniting walls, curtains and the rest of the decoration on the room. Mario leaves the room with commanding steps.

"N–No, Mario, come back!" I scream. Mario closes the door and his steps–along with his companions'–are heard through the silence of the night.

I curse under my breath. The room suddenly turns into a show of lights as the temperature exceeds the one a human can support in an usual scenario. This is not an "usual" situation, however. I'm hours away of my possible release and nothing will stop me.

Apparently, nothing will stop the fire, either…

I jerk my hand in an attempt to break free. No avail. Once again. It's only harming my wrist.

I had extinguished the fire running through the sheets. Legs worked just as well as hands in this case. Unfortunately, it only worsened the huge burn on my leg.

Smoke is beginning to spread into the small room. The fire was still visible through the thick forming cloud of smoke, though.

Another desperation rush makes me jerk my hand, causing harm and a nasty metal mark on my wrist. I start coughing when the clean air is overwhelmed by the smoke and my lungs search for the lasts breaths.

Minutes have gone by and I have to say Mario's–seemingly–improvised plan is working, big time. And while I don't plan dying in here, it appears to be my only desti–

"Lucas!" I hear someone shouting. The door is brought down and in the other side of the smoke a human figure moves through the doorframe, quickly crossing the smoke.

"Who…"– I cough– "Who is there?"

Marth's head peeks from the smoke. I let my shoulders drop. Yep, I'm not dying in here.

Seconds later, before I can respond, Link and Lucario come out of the smoke to my side. "Guys," I say. A tone of relief leaves my mouth. It's difficult to keep my eyes on them because of the smoke and the words on my mind telling me to hold my breath.

"Stay out, we're coming," Link shouts–to someone outside the room.

With a precise and fast swing of his sword, Marth sets me free of the handcuffs. Then, he notices my wounded leg and figures it will be difficult to me to walk by myself out of the room. He extends a hand out for me.

"Thanks," I say, inhaling more tainted air.

Marth passes his arm around my neck, and along with Link doing the same thing, they help me limp my way out of the room.

The three of us, with Lucario behind, walked out of the smoke-filled room, which was now extending to the hallway. At the moment I step out, Link is on my right… No, wait, I think I'm going crazy…

Link and Marth lead me far from the smoke. My body follows, but my eyes don't. There, near the doorway stands who looks like a younger version of... (I look to my right to see that indeed Link is still there, so what is going on?) A younger version of Link swinging an object that resembles a silver-white color wand.

When the smaller Link stops, the smoke covering the area gathers into a small tornado. The younger Link picks up a glass bottle that was on the floor and uses it to somehow catch all of the smoke.

When the strange act finishes my jaw is already hanging freely after it dropped in the middle of said act. I didn't notice it first but the swordsmen had loosened their grip on me and now looked at me with amused faces.

"I think I'm going crazy."

"Uh?" Marth muttered. Maybe I'm the only one seeing the smaller Link.

"That's right," Link says, realizing. "You haven't met Link yet… I mean, the other Link."

"You can see him, too?" I ask, almost whispering to him.

"Everyone can," Link says.

That's when Marth seems to realize what we're talking about, glances to the other Link, looks back to me and chuckles.

I can't help but watch Marth with annoyed eyes as he continues chuckling. Meanwhile, the smaller Link approaches us, which only makes Marth's chuckling turn into laughter.

"And… what's with him?" he asks the bigger Link. The latter tries to come up with an answer, but it seems that Marth's laughter is catchy enough to prevent Link to talk without cut… So I come in.

"It is just that Marth saw him in a mirror and didn't realize the 'ugly thing' as he said, was him. I figure it happens often due to his–"

"Alright, alright. Co…" Marth interrupts. Continued chuckle doesn't let him talk properly. "Come on, you gotta admit it, it was funny that you thought that young Link was a ghost or something."

Young Link looked at me puzzled. "A ghost?" he asks. "Why?"

I wince. Was not it obvious? Maybe they are used to this strange kind of stuff. "You see, here is Link," I say, pointing at the bigger Link, then at the smaller one. "and here is Link."

"I still don't get it."

Perhaps, they are not the same person after all. The younger one is a bit clumsy. "I don't know you, but I have never seen to totally two persons that looked the same… Hell, I have a twin, and not even we are this similar."

"I can explain that," Link… the older Link says.

"Wait, wait!" I interrupt him. "First, what is his name?" I refer to the younger one.

"Everyone around tend to call me Young Link."

"Young Link…?" I sigh. "Don't you have another name or something?"

"Hmm, I like Young Link."

"Never mind."

The cooing silence is abruptly cut by two doors on the hall bursting open, and a crowd of Smashers hurrying through them, creating a semi-circle around both Links, Lucario, Marth and I.

"Get down," a man with a military outfit said, pointing a shotgun at my head.

"Hands behind your head!" a commanding, deep voice coming from the Smashers crowd said.

Before I can do anything, however, I'm thrown down to the floor in the middle of a blue blur, which I recognize as Sonic–once he stands to my side.

Get away from him, guys!" the military man shouted, addressing the Smashers closer to me.

Marth and Link (the younger one) gave a couple of steps away from me, but Link and Lucario stay planted at my side.

"He hasn't done anything, Snake," Lucario says with a low, growling voice as he steps to the front.

"What? Ya'll protect him, now?" Sonic asks.

"He's just saying that Lucas will cause no harm," Link says.

"We are not trying to kill him," Snake says.

"Yet!" one in the back of the crowd of Smashers adds.

"Remember, Lucas is a prisoner."

Silence reins the hall. Neither Snake nor any other Smasher has let down their guard. Lucario and Link try to stay calm, but I can feel the tension on their bodies. To my surprise someone starts moving. Some ones, I should say, move away from the center of the crowd, forming a narrow path in between them where someone is walking through.

Ness? Master Hand? Who?

"Lucario, Link, please move, we'll just relocate Lucas back in his cell. For now," Mario says, revealing himself.

He glares at me for a second, trying to not look obvious to the others.

I decide the warning has passed. I stretch my arms and begin standing up until Mario speaks again. "Lucas, stay there until we handcuff you again." He signals the man named Snake to do as he said, then speak again. "Tomorrow we'll discuss this… escape attempt."

Snake finished with the handcuffs and help me stand up. I limp when Snake slightly pushes me.

Maybe is not the best idea, but I can't let Mario get all the praise that his people think he deserves. I have to expose him. "Stop fooling around. We both know you paid me a visit earlier and caused that whole mess."

He eyes me with disgust. "Stop lying, you will make the situation worse. The Smashers know me very well enough to be aware that I wouldn't do that," he finishes with a tone that if I didn't know him I would believe his story.

"Come on! You will be–" In the mid of my sentence I get poked in the shoulder–rather rudely–by Snake.

"Shut your mouth. Better be thankful Mario hasn't done all that crap you're saying."

"Snake, Metaknight, please escort him back to a new cell with anti-psychic capacities."

A small ball-like, blue creature joins us at my left. He sports a mask, a cape and small shoes. Everything in purple tones. "Let's go," he commands with a voice even deeper than Snake's.

"You have a very deep voice for someone of your size. Funny, ah?"

"If your goal is to make me angry, you will fail."

"Oh, no, I was trying to be funny, nothing else."

"In that case… Snake." The soldier grabs me tighter for a second. Metaknight faces me and punches me in my stomach.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

They have left me in a similar cell like the last one. The last time I could see the sky it was still night. Maybe I can get some peaceful sleep in here. At least a bit since tomorrow, if everything goes as planned I will have a chance to speak with MH about what is going on.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"_Lucas…"_

Uh? Where am I?

The last thing I remember is going to sleep inside my cell. Could this be a dream? I don't know… "It feels too real," I tell myself, looking at my hands.

And what is this place?

I look around. Left and right; up and down, everything is darkness with the exception of a small light where am standing.

This reminds me of when I released the Dragon.

"_Lucas."_ A voice comes from the darkness, but no matter how much I walk towards it, the darkness still reigns the surroundings.

"Hello, Lucas." The mysterious voice reveals itself. A figure slowly walks out of the darkness, approaching the dim spotlight I stand on.

"You," I say, almost growling.

Porky's body came out of the shadows, showing himself wearing a tidy gray suit.

I run forward expecting to catch him, but the place we're on is endless. Each time I step forward, Porky move away one more step.

"I'm glad you are happy to see me."

"Not even your mother would be happy to see someone like you, not even in her dreams."

He glares at me for less than a second, almost unperceivable to me.

"I don't know my mother, but I would be disgusted to see her, so we're better like this. However, I am sure you mother would be happy to see you…" he pauses for a moment, tasting with delight his next words. "if she wasn't rotting below the earth."

My anger builds up inside me. I will not let him talk like that. "Argh! PK Thunder!"

Three thunders come out of my hand striking Porky in a show of sparkles.

When the sparkles are overcome by darkness and the only light is the one of my feet, Porky laughs with his typical pig-like laugh. "Oh, poor creature. This is a dream, you idiot." He laughs again.

"Is a dream, for now. And you should make the most of this time, because I will hunt you down and kill you."

He chuckles to himself. "Whatever you say. Anyway, I guess you remember my message the other day."

I'm still furious and want him gone of my dreams… His words, however, brings a slight curiosity.

"Yeah, what with that…?"

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Lucas, wake up."

My eyes open in a furious motion, as I realize I am not with Porky anymore.

"Uh, Lucas?"

My eyes drift towards the origin of the voice. Link. He seems the kind of person who enjoys visiting other people on jail… while they are sleeping. Not so nice.

"Whatever you are here for, it better be important. It feels as if I didn't sleep."

"Well, if talking with Master Hand in private is in you list of priorities, you better get up." Link casted a smile that soon turned into an amused face. "And as a suggestion, you should comb your hair, at least a bit."

"Wait, the person who uses a hat to hide his hair is criticizing my hair… It must look bad."

"You really need to leave the comedy." Link starts walking away. "A couple of Smashers will come for you in ten minutes or so."

I nod. Yesterday's night the special handcuffs were removed before Snake and the other one (whom I don't remember his name) put me in a cell. I was surprised to see them taking out the handcuffs, and I wanted to sleep comfortable, so I didn't do any abrupt movement until they locked the cell door. I noticed another one of those crystals hanging above me, stuck on the ceiling.

I don't have much to do in these ten minutes. I can only take Link's suggestion and fix my hair in a more presentable way. Without a comb or water, it's quite difficult however.

After the brief wait, I hear people entering to the room where my cell is… Apparently they are not what I would call "people".

"Ready to go?" a weird creature enters from the metal door in my cell, and as soon as I see him–I think it's a him–I wonder how much surprises are left in this strange world.

More like a weird creature, he is a fox (animal very scarce in the Nowhere Islands) wearing clothing, which I think still deserves the title of "weird". His clothing resembles the one of a pilot, his tail waves freely behind him, and his green eyes lock on mine while we examine each other. I think this is what Dr. Andonuts called a… anthropomorphic creature, that's it (quite the mouthful).

Behind him another ant… anthro… anthrop… "whatever it's called creature" enters. This one, however, looks more like a blue bird. A falcon. He sports the same style of clothing as the fox one.

Not knowing this foxy dude, I can always call him silly names (just like my brother used to do when he was a kid). "Always ready, Mr. Fox."

"How did you know my name?" Really, his name is Fox?

"I didn't… Don't tell me Mr. Falcon over there is named Falcon…" I say.

"Actually," the bird says from his spot, leaning on the metal door. "My name is Falco."

I sigh. This place needs more originality with the names.

"Never mind. We are going with MH, right?"

"Yeah, we are, Lucas. You will be able to talk about him freely," Fox answers.

"Just want to add that you will stay handcuffed for the duration of the meeting. Hopefully you won't get excited with your powers knowing this," Falco tells me.

"It doesn't make any difference." I cast a cocky smile at the bird. He puffs not caring for my words.

"Okay… Let's get this done," Fox says. "Step away from the door and don't make any sudden movements."

I do as told. Fox nods and Falco takes out a small hexagonal artifact; he inserts it in a small hole in the wall with the same shape of the artifact. The metal bars respond instantly withdrawing toward opposite corners and disappearing into the wall. The reinforced glass that was in my first cell is in here as well. It slides down into a special slot in the floor.

"Now you can step out."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

To my surprise they never put anything on my eyes at any moment of the way to MH's study. We walked through more hallways than I can remember, and at the end we halted in the front of a double wooden door.

Fox veers the doorknob and pushes it slightly, before saying, "We will stay here, you go in. Master Hand and other Smashers are waiting for you."

I nod, glanced at Falco, who looked away, and then walk in the study.

"You have arrived, Lucas," the commanding voice of MH welcomes me.

"Yep."

The study is not as big as I expected, Master Hand "sits" behind a large oak desk. Behind him a pair of bookcases filled with books that he probably hasn't read… Two large windows at my right let the sun enter freely. At my left several Smashers are sitting, whom some I recognize as Marth, Ike, Sonic, Falcon and a guy around my age probably, wearing a red cap and red shirt.

Lucario, Link and Ness are sitting the closest to me.

"I was informed by a Smasher that your assault on Luigi wasn't how we think it was. There was another reason, right? And not because it was Luigi."

"Ness has already explained you what is going on?" I ask. MH nods in respond, so I continue. "It's an enemy, we, Ness and I, have in common. He took control of Luigi's body and let himself get beaten up, probably foreseeing this whole mess."

"Pokey, right? Yeah, back when Ness joined us I did some research," he says. "However, the end doesn't justify the means, you should know that."

I nod, and then say, "He's a very dangerous person, though. And even if 'the end doesn't justify the means', it was the correct thing, I want to believe."

"I can't say I'm happy with the 'means', but I do realize he's a threat. So… let's say I release you; do you have any plan?"

"The Dr. Andonuts, the person that helped me with my brother–"

"He knows him," Ness interrupts me. Apparently he's already brought MH up to date. "Also, I have told him about your brother… at least the important things."

"Okay…" I tell him. I don't like people knowing about the problems my brother and I have. "He, Andonuts may be able to help me locate my brother; from there I will go to my" –I think about how MH or any other Smasher would say it– "homeworld and search for Pokey."

"I have various opinions about this. First, it seems too much for one person, don't you think?" It is a rhetorical question, so MH continues without pausing. "And it's too much freedom for someone that, to a certain extent, is still a prisoner."

I remain silent. Thankfully, Lucario speaks for me. "We could go with him."

"You three are friends of him, I hate to say it, but it's almost the same as Lucas going by himself."

"We are his friends," Link starts. "as much as we are Smashers. We know what our job is. We've tried to stop Lucas before, remember."

"Besides, Master Hand," Ness joins the conversation. "You know Pokey escaped, and I want to finish what he started."

"Look, am not against you three doing what you got to do, but I can't let Lucas free as if he didn't do nothing," Master Hand admits, and I hate to say it, but he's right, I can't deny what he said.

"At this point it's about trusting in us," Ness says.

MH sighs. Good. I smirk.

"I'll let you go Lucas…" Ness and Link mutter a "yeah", while Lucario simply nods in agreement. I continue smirking victoriously. "However, when you are done, I will have to ask Lucas to come back to receive some kind of punishment."

"You make it sound scary," Ness interrupts.

"That's the right thing for Luigi."

"OK, it's fair."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Our little meeting continued for quite some time. We reviewed the terms for my release, Ness and I explained more backstory about Porky/Pokey, and I added details–I think are important–about me and Claus.

Claus… Oh, how I miss him. Hopefully, with the help of Dr. Andonuts I can locate him.

Just now, the meeting finished 20 or so minutes ago. I was sent back to my old room with Ness, but I haven't unpacked yet, though. I just want to rest.

Someone knocks the door. It must be Ness. I open it and go back to sit in the bed.

"Hey," he greets, his voice still carries pain. Our battle at the city must still be on his mind.

"Hello, Ness." My mouth curves into a smile, then into a surprised expression when I notice Ness walking with just a pair of crutches. "Wait, you shouldn't be out of your wheelchair yet.

"Why? Because your attack is that powerful?" his words go with a small chuckle. It makes me sad, though, remembering what I did to him.

"Oh sorry," he mutters. "Anyway, I have a little surprise."

My–still–regretful eyes drift towards his.

He leans his crutches on the wall and sits beside me. He reaches inside his pocket and takes out… "The thunder sword," I gasp loudly.

"I figured you'd like to have it."

I look at the shaft of the sword. I can't express in words what I feel. "You know how much this means for me…"

"I do. It's your brother's sword." He puts his hand in my shoulder. "And am sure he will be happy to know that you took good care of it."

I felt melancholic. For a normal person this would seem stupid. My reaction towards having the sword back. It's much more than just a sword, however. "How… how you…"

He chuckled. "Before we left the city in the Falcon Flyer"– I suppose he's referring to the same day they captured me–"Samus found it, and decided to keep it until you could have it back."

I take a moment to thank Samus in my mind. "Thanks." I couldn't stop smiling so I look downwards at my sword, at least until I remembered something. "Wait, and your wheelchair. Are you sure you're okay?"

Ness rolls his eyes, slightly amused. "Yes, yes, mom."

I laugh briefly. "I just wanted to make sure." I force myself to stop my ridiculous giggling to speak. "By the way, why wasn't Mario today at MH's?"

"You missed him?" He sighed. "Luigi has been quite unstable lately. Mario wanted to make him some company."

I take one hand to my mouth. Will I have to add one more person to my death count? No, no! That won't happen! "Oh, hell…"

"Remember it's not your fault." He locks his gaze on mine. "I would have done the same."

I understand why he sympathizes with me so easily. I'm happy someone can truly understand. "It must be hard for the others to understand us."

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about that," when he finishes, I notice his fists were clenched with such force that his knuckles turned white. "Also…" I cast him a "what now?" face. He ignored it, though. "I know you don't want more bad news but…"

"What is it?" I ask, not expecting his next words.

"Dr. Andonuts…" My eyes widen. Please, let him be alive… "He dissapeared some days ago."

"Andonuts. Gone? Any idea where is he?"

"Not the slightest."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Again? Just like last night, my dreams are replaced by this infinite void, where the only light is below me, marking my steps. Is he here?

"Someone in here?" I called, hoping to be wrong, and hopefully be alone in this strange place. I walk through the darkness, creating a small path of light in front, while the light behind is consumed by the darkness. "I feel so loney."

"Not for much." The disgusting figure of Porky comes out from behind. I sharply turn around meeting his blood-hungry eyes not far from me.

"I knew you were coming."

He laughed and put a hand on his mouth faking surprise. "My, my, look who were excited to see me."

"Not really. I figured that this strange place came from your twisted mind."

Twisted m-mind?" he stutters before he breaking into a laughter. "Who killed a dozen persons like a mindless killer. Luigi, Ness... And that's just in this wor–"

"S-Shut up!" I screamed, shutting my eyes tight, and then opening again when he stopped. "I didn't... didn't want to. I-I am not like you..."

"What you mean by 'like you'?"

"Evil… and, and that just lives to seek destruction and death–"

He blows his hair away from his eyes. Not caring for my words he interrupts, "In sum, I'm the bad guy?" he asks, his mouth curving into a smirk.

"Yeah, if you can't understand: what you do is not the right thing."

"And who says that what you do is the right one." He points me with his chubby finger. "You have killed men and women that had a family. My army used to fight for what we believe, and you destroyed our beliefs… That doesn't make you the good guy."

"Is not the same. You killed my family, my friends. Then, you turned my brother into a machine made to satisfy your selfish goals."

"Poor victim. You destroyed my dream of cleansing your world from the biggest plague: the human."

"I fight for what is right. Something you would never know how to do."

He shakes his head in disagreement. As if I'm missing the most obvious thing in the world. "You know what. Let's prove your decision-making." He walked in a circle, hands behind his back. "If you're a good person, you would do your best to prevent purposeless deaths."

"Continue…"

"I want you to meet me at the boundaries of the city, between the Mansion and said city. I don't want anything to do with this group of retards that call themselves heroes. I just want you…" His words make me tremble in the inside. A huge weight is suddenly put over my shoulders.

"If I do that, you shall stay away from the Mansion and the city?"

"Yes." He raises a finger. "But, if you do not meet me, I will come and crush this world"–he slams his fist in his opened hand–"until every soul is suffering in hell."

I'm left without words. I stand there, frozen. A chill sent by his words penetrates my body making me shiver slightly. "I… I…"

His body disappears in a ghastly motion.

Three full heartbeats pass until I feel cold breath in my neck. I turn around to meet the origin of the cold breath. Porky's distorted–with gray, ghastly skin–face flashes me a wicked smile… just mere centimeters away from my face. I stumble and fall in my back. Porky moves with a ghostly body towards me. His face is the only "normal" feature. There's no body, just what you would call a "ghost's body". A black and red twirling smoke moves forward. In an instant his face comes to centimeters from mine, again. "You will do what I order you to do. Otherwise, you will all die, and the other PK Love wielder will be mine," he says in a monstrous tone.

His mouth opens widely, and in a twisted combination, my mom, Claus and my screams come out of it. The same screams that echoed trough the sunshine forest during the chimera-drago first's attack… that resulted into my mother's death.

"Will you come with me?" he screamed into my face.

I can't do more than scream back in a horror symphony, as someone wants to drill into my mind.

"Do you hear me, Lucas?" he repeats the same several times. "Do you hear me, Lucas?"

"G-Get away… I–"

"What, Lucas? You won't come with me, even though that's the correct thing to do? You will save tons of people!"

"But, b-but…"

"But what? You're only thinking on yourself, right?" A ghostly hand made of twirling smoke appeared from thin air, and then it poked me in the head. "You're not the hero you claim to be–"

"I am not a he–" I try to point he's wrong, but he doesn't let me talk.

"But you think of yourself as one. You're not, however."

"Please… Let me go."

"It hurts, Lucas? Don't you hate this? How someone enters in your mind, and doesn't care what you want… but what he wants…"

"Yes, it hurts!" I cry so loudly my voice breaks.

As I finish my response to Porky's twisted question, a light appears behind Porky's ghostly figure.

The light blinds me for a second. Then, it fades down to a small spotlight, just like the one that's below me. Porky eyes the owner of said light and screeches, "You!"

"Ness…" I mutter.

He notices my horrified, mentally-tired expression, then looks at Porky–or Pokey, how he calls him.

"What are you doing here?" Porky's voice distorts as he speaks.

"I noticed something was wrong with Lucas, but I gotta accept I didn't expect to see you here. Not after so much."

Pokey glanced at me, then back at Ness. He seems to be unable to decide who he really wants to "attack". "How you entered? I created this place," he asks Ness.

"Just like you did; through Lucas' mind…" Ness trails off walking towards me–and Porky, too. He doesn't hesitate to close the distance between himself and the monstrous Porky, but his eyes show a fear originating on his memories, nonetheless.

"Leave us!" Porky screams, stretching out a ghost-like claw aiming at Ness' neck.

He closes his eyes tightly, as the claw comes for him. When the claw collides with Ness' body it vanishes on touch. Ness opens his eyes, along with a smirk forming in his face. "I entered Lucas' mind by myself, which makes you powerless against me."

Porky let out a cry, and pierces me with red eyes. "You better do what's right." He rockets himself up high, and dives down into my body; Porky's ghostly figure vanishes when it collides with me.

The void disappears in the blink of an eye.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

My eyes open in a hurry, meeting Ness'. "Your nose…" he hands me a napkin.

I take my hand to my nose to find that it's bleeding. "Thanks," I say.

Ness halts me as I try to sit up. "You should stay there and sleep."

"Glad you arrived just in time."

"Yeah…" he muttered. "By the way, why did Porky tell you to do 'what's right'?"

I clean the rest of the blood coming out from my nose, turn to my side–looking away from Ness–, and before closing my eyes I say: "I don't want to talk about that…"

Wordlessly, Ness switched off the night-table lamp and sighed audibly. "Okay," he mutters, going back to his bed and throwing his sheet over his body.

"_You better do what's right," _I recall Porky's haunting words. I should do what's right… For everyone's safety… But I can't.

* * *

><p><strong>"...if she wasn't rotting below earth." Phew, that hurt to write. I gotta say I enjoyed writting the whole 'void' part. The 'Smashing song of Praise' in G major is quite good to put the mood, along with 'Enmity of the Dark Lord' from Binding of Isaac.<strong>

**Anyway... Happy New Year, everyone :D**


	9. Porky's Warning Comes to Life

**And here another new chapter, "It has Begun." You'll see what will happen with Pokey's threat towards Lucas and what will come with it.**

**Anon : Thanks for the suggestion, but I have already planned the rest of the story :)**

* * *

><p>Last night... Last night I was glad Ness didn't begin asking questions. Sure, he may have had a bunch of questions, but maybe he saw my face and knew he should wait to the next day. To today.<p>

I'm surprised that after last night's events I could sleep well. My body tells me to wake up. I open my eyes, which adjust to the dim light entering through the blind. The clock on Ness' night table reads 10:34 A.M. Pretty late considering my discussion with Porky last night. I notice there's no one in Ness' bed. The pillows are on the floor and the blankets are half their way down on one end of the bed.

I spot Ness coming out of the bathroom; his right hand grasping a towel over his head and his left one on his trademark cap.

"Oh, good morning," he tells me.

"Morning."

He throws the towel on his bed and walks towards me. "I know you just woke up, but…"

"You wanna know about last night."

"Exactly," he backs up and heads to the door. "Might as well eat breakfast as you tell me."

I sit up, "No." He looks confused. "I need to tell you in private."

Bad decision, Lucas! I didn't have time to think of more… If he still cares and wants to listen, I _will _have to tell him Porky's and I "deal". My plan, however, is to reject Porky's offer. I can't go with him and give up without a fight; it would ruin everything I've worked for. I can't let my people and my family down… again. I don't have the slightest idea of what will Ness suggest doing. I remember our fight days ago… He didn't hesitate to save those people of my PK Love. If he almost sacrificed himself to save two hundred lives (the number of people in that building stays as a fresh memory I can't forget), why wouldn't he sacrifice someone else for thousands?

Ness closes the door, as his confused eyes fall on me. "Private?"

I shake my head trying to fix my error. "No, forget it, I'll tell you later."

"Better tell me now."

"I can't–" the wrong words slip through my lips. "I mean, it's not _that _important. Come on, let's eat breakfast first."

I stay still for a few seconds, expecting Ness to believe the lie. He glares at me, as if I was disrespecting him. "Tell me what happened between you and…_ him_."

"Chill, Ness, it's not a matter of life or death." I feel a knot in my throat caused by my last words.

"I have to know."

I get up from the bed, walk up to the door and force a light chuckle. "Let's go, I'm quite hungry." I signal him to come with my left hand.

"You don't understand," he growls at a low volume I haven't heard before. He grasps my left wrist with his right hand. He jerks me away from the door, and with both hands pushes me into my bed. In an instant he pins me down with both arms. I try flailing my leggs, but a strong force keeps my legs from moving.

A certain anger appears on Ness' eyes. Anger I can easily recognize. But more than anger is hatred towards someone.

"What's your problem?" I shout him in the face.

Ness' glare softens into a regretful gaze. The PSI pinning my legs down goes away. He let go my arms and staggers backwards. "I-I am sorry…"

"Seriously, what's your problem?" I ask him, this time wanting to know the reason of that brief outrage.

"Couldn't sleep last night," Ness says. "He caused me nightmares… That same twisted dimension," he finishes, whispering to himself the last part.

"I wanted to know his purpose in here. I'm not oblivious to what's happening between you and Pokey, but… but it's the first time I see him in years." Ness walks back and forth as he speaks.

It doesn't take me more than a few seconds to fully understand Ness. I can't hide from Ness my conversation with Porky anymore. He doesn't deserve this. "OK, I will tell you."

He takes a seat on my bed. His eyes still show some mix between fear, desperation and anger.

I hesitate, still not knowing what his reaction will be. Protecting me or the others. Is a selfish thought, I know that.

I won't enter into detail. Ness already looks he's suffered enough from last night. Yeah, he may see Porky again at some point, but I shall not hurry that event.

"I'm aware Porky–" Ness cringes slightly at the mention of that name "–didn't enter in my head to pay me a visit, so I will tell you what… he threatened me with."

"He threatened you?"

"Exactly, Porky told me he would come here," I pause for a second, noticing Ness' shocked expression. "And then he gave me two options, to meet him somewhere and go with him…"

"And the other option?"

"He said if I didn't obey him, he would invade this world and destroy it."

Ness was speechless, looking everywhere as if the answer was written somewhere in the wall. "I suppose you are not going to go…"

I gasp silently. Does that means he will tell me to go or not? "Yeah, I was thinking about that." My eyes turn downwards as I fidget with my hands. "Albeit, I cannot stop thinking of all the lives I'll give to Porky, just to survive one more day."

"I see…"

He doesn't show any signals of disagreement. If I had to bet on it, I would say he will keep this as a secret. A secret worth thousands and thousands of lives. "And that means you will do what about that?"

"You've just put so much weight on my shoulders with that." I expect a chuckle at the end of his words. I never get it. Instead, his gaze turns stern as he looks to his feet thinking in an answer.

A selfish sensation fills my mind when I watch Ness struggling with himself. He groans, and his stern gaze shifts on me. "I can't let you go… Let alone turning you in," he finishes with certain disgust in what he just said–I notice.

I can't help but feel empathy for him. It would be an insult if someone asked me to protect someone and let other thousands of persons die. I can't let the empathy consume me, though. Technically, I will help killing a whole planet but I will save another one. Mine. Besides, maybe I can save this one too. "A part of me was hoping you said that… and it doesn't feel right."

"That, however, does not mean I won't try saving this us," he said, standing up. "We have to warn everyone about this, while, obviously taking out the part about you."

I can see a spark on Ness' eyes. Determination. I have to follow him. After all, how much has he sacrificed so far to help me? "Right." Before I leave the room, I take the thunder sword. I may need it.

We trot through the colossal mansion, where Smashers and people I haven't met yet look at us with puzzled eyes.

We finally arrive in the place I was before, Master Hand's study.

Ness pushes the door when he notices it is slightly opened. "Oops, guess I didn't lock it," Master Hand says. "Hello, Ness… and Lucas."

"Good morning Master Ha–" Ness tries saying, but gets interrupt by the hand.

"What brings you here?"

"We have an emergency, Master Hand. A huge one."

I am aware that Master Hand can see but doesn't have eyes, and thus I would bet he's reading the papers on his desk and not heeding us.

"If by 'emergency' you mean we have run out of steak, you just got to–"

"By emergency I mean a serious emergency, Master Hand," as Ness finishes he signals me to explain the situation.

Master Hand shifts his position on his hand-like chair, and "looks" straight at me. "You better not be wasting precious time, young man."

"No. Last night, inside my dreams I was visited by Pokey, which Ness can verify," when I say that, Ness nods. "He said he would come and invade your world, and cleanse it from life, literally." I add a pair of extra words there. I couldn't risk the real information slipping through my lips.

"He said he will invade the planet just for the hell of it?" Master Hand doesn't seem to believe the lie. Thankfully, Ness comes in.

"Well, MH, last night I noticed how Lucas seemed troubled when he was sleeping. I decided to read his mind" –so that's how he knew Pokey was there– "After I saw who was inside I went inside, too, and then had a small chat with Pokey before he disappeared. Maybe he's seeking revenge."

"I see. Still, is not a good idea to mobilize every Smasher, Assistant and Ally just because Pokey said something." Did he say Assistant and Ally? I should ask Ness about that later.

"Better safe than sorry, MH," Ness says, a slight annoyance creeping through his voice.

"Alright, Ness, I will send scouting teams and order them if they notice any anomaly to inform me."

Ness puffs–which I can barely hear–and says, "Hopefully that will be enough." He turns towards me, with a tensed expression. "We have to tell Link and Lucario, let's go."

"I'm behind you."

Without more words, Ness headed to the door, exiting the study.

I wait until Ness leaves and then turn to Master Hand. "You know that my 'escape attempt' wasn't that, right?"

Master Hand doesn't seem to care for my opinion, as he starts rearranging the papers that were on his desk with. "Those same handcuffs we used on you were used on Mewtwo, a psychic that is far more powerful than Ness in my opinion. There was no way you would escape from that. However, I barely know you, so I can't judge."

"It was Mario, by the way. He went into my room and made that whole mess."

"In case you're curious, Mario is the co-creator of this organization. First, no one will ever think he did that, and second, he's immune to any issue, legal or not. Also, I didn't take into account that 'escape attempt'; otherwise you would not be here."

"Hmm." There's nothing to say after that. He acknowledges the chances that I could escape were slim, but possible. Yet, he didn't think about that when I was here yesterday. Master Hand hinted Mario wouldn't do that, yet he still told me how Mario was immune to any thing he does.

"Anything else?" Master Hand seems to lock his gaze onto mine.

Before I can respond, Ness peek his head inside the study. "Lucas, what's the matter? We have to tell the others."

I break eye contact with MH and exit the door. "Sorry."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Lucario and Link must be outside the mansion, training–"

"We're right here," Lucario's words sound inside my head. Probably Ness also got the message as–just like me–he searches for the source of it.

I spot Lucario and Link walking downstairs near the lobby.

"Hey!" Link greets us with a hand waving at us.

"I'm glad we found you," Ness says.

"I say the same, we heard some people were being gathered by Master Hand," Lucario says.

"We figured you had to do with that since someone told us they saw you going to MH's office."

"Yes, we were there," Ness grunted slightly at his own words. "There's something ya need to know; everyone must know."

"What is it?" Lucario's neutral expression changes into a more serious one.

Ness raises a finger to start talking, but his body denied. His stomach makes a short, food-demanding growl. A giggle escapes through Link's mouth. "First, I need to grab some food, but I tell you in the way there."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Ness gives another huge bite to his sandwich, and we continue our way out the dining hall.

"Glad you're OK, Lucas," Link tells me.

Ness had just finished explaining the duo what happened yesterday. I added a few details on my conversation with Porky (some of which I had not told Ness before). "Thanks."

"Wait, will Porky really try invade us? This place has already suffered a couple of attacks and we have already fended them off successfully. What makes him so deadly?" Lucario asked.

Ness swallows down the mouthful and says, "Trust me, Porky is both, serious about this, and deadly… Extremely deadly."

30 minutes passed since Ness and I talked with MH. Suddenly, interrupting Ness, a strange metallic sound invades the dining hall. I look up to find its source: several small speakers across the walls.

"This is Master Hand," his metalized voiced booms through the speakers in the dining hall. "I'm declaring 'Burning Glove' code. I want every Smasher, Assistant and Ally to gather at the nearest emergency station and do as told. Smashers Ness and Lucas I want you on my study, double time.

"Oh no…" Link whispers.

"Porky's here," Ness growls, baling up a fist. "Let's go, Lucas, as fast as you can. Luc, Link, come with us, we may need your help with whatever Master Hand wants."

I get confused by Master Hand's sudden declaration, which I can only figure–due to what Ness said–it has to do with Porky. Wordlessly, I get ready to follow Ness' instructions. In a blue blur, Lucario sprints off of the hall, followed by Ness and Link. My only reaction is to follow them, lagging behind due to their superior speed.

The floor tremble as dozens of people run across it, Smashers I know, Alloys and more people–or creatures–I've never seen. The decoration found in the halls of the mansion is put aside or thrown rather, as everyone seem to forget the decoration is there, and focus on getting to their destination. In the middle of the chaos, I ask, "What's happening! What's 'Burning Glove'!"

"Not now, Lucas!" Link shuts me off.

"It's an emergency code," Lucario's voice sounds in my head. I silently thank the clarification. "It is used whenever the planet is under attack and the best option to combat the danger is Smashers, Assistants, Allies, or the three. According to Link and Ness it has happened twice so far. I've never been in one, but I have informed myself."

"Thanks!" I shout at Lucario, who's the one leading us.

I'm thankful we have left all the chaos behind once we arrive to MH's study. Link pushes the door open, and we enter. Once we are all inside I close the door.

"What are you two doing here?" Master Hand points at Lucario and Link. Ness is about to respond, but MH cuts him off. "Never mind. Ness, I called you because of the attack that you two foresaw. I'm disappointed it happened. I didn't want to see this place attacked again," Master Hand said. A mix between sadness, fear and stress filled his voice. Something I haven't seen before from him.

"I hope you have an idea, because even if Porky did come, I wasn't expecting him to avoid our main line of defense so easily."

Ness' face turned into a worried expression. "What you mean by that?"

Master Hand makes a long sigh, and points his index finger to an artifact on his desk. The small machine makes a "click" and static washes over the voice record before a deep voice speaks. "This is Snake." The man in military outfit… "We've ran into several of strange creatures inside the city. Some of them look half animal and half machine; others I can't describe what they look like. The people on the border of the city have spotted creatures there as well. This is definitely some kind of invasion. Send reinforcements, Snake out."

The brief message was accompanied by the painful roars of–what I'm sure Snake's talking about are chimeras–chimeras and people. Gun shots and explosions take over the background noise.

"Were not the people on the border supposed to warn us?" Lucario asked, with crossed arms.

"Yeah. Snake's message got here first though, so I can only suppose that these creatures didn't enter the city by normal means."

"You can't expect something normal from that freak!" Ness says.

"He once said he could teleport across space. He brought Dr. Andonuts from one era–" The memory of Andonuts gone come back to me... I need to find him "–to mine. Maybe that's what he did now." An image of the chimera Drago flashes in my head. "And those creatures are called chimeras."

"OK, now, I want to hear ideas. We may be able to fight the chimeras now, but if we get rid of the source it'll easier."

"First we need to find Pokey," Link adds.

"Yeah, obviously, just tell me how!" Ness yelled, throwing his arms on the air. His mood is passing onto me as well. I want to find Porky as bad as Ness, and finish this once and for all.

"It's possible…" I think out loud.

"What's possible?" Master Hand asks.

"When Porky was gone, Dr. Andonuts once said he was taken to a bizarre dimension. Porky had thought it was a good idea to prove… my brother's potential in there. A place Porky could twist however he wanted. Andonuts told me that; maybe he can lead us there."

"The scientist disappeared the night you escaped…" Master Hand says. "That will be your mission, you four, get Dr. Andonuts back here and make the necessary arranges to stop Pokey."

"I understand," I say.

"Take these, you will need them." Master Hand took out a bunch of objects from a drawer in the wall behind him, and handed them to Ness. "Go to the teleport room, and depart from there, now!"

Ness hurls one of the small objects to Lucario, then to Link. I wait for mine, but instead he approaches. "Headsets," he says, giving me a rectangular object with a small rubber curve on the side. "Put them on your ear. This button–" he points one of the 5 buttons "–is to speak; these two control the volume… and that's the basics; now we need to go."

Asking what/where is the "teleport room" is not a good idea. Time is not on our side and stopping to respond a simple question is useless.

Like last time, I follow the other three. Now, after some time since Master Hand sounded the alarm, there have been noticeable less people than before, with just a few Alloys or persons going here and there. I can only suppose everyone else is on the city fighting.

Ness stands in front of a bright-green door. He opens it and waits until everyone is inside. The inside is more like a maze to me with a large corridor covered by doors.

"This will take us to any part of the planet," Ness tells me quickly, searching for something in the doors.

"The problem is we don't know where Dr. Andonuts went…" Link says.

"I doubt he left the city," I respond.

"We will have to go separate ways then," Lucario says.

"We can easily navigate through the city, but Lucas has barely seen it," Link points out.

"In that case, you can use the headset if you feel lost or something. Don't worry, though, you may come across with some Smasher or Assistant," Ness says.

He stands besides a door, hand on the knob. An address is written over the door: CRYSTAL SHARD AV.

The three words make me go back to the image of Ness lying on the floor unconscious. Behind him a group of people, all frozen, are looking at me. All of the sudden I want to apologize to Ness, and tell every person that perished it was not my intention; that I'm going to restore everything to how it should be… but I can't. I stay with the bitter feeling of regret to myself as I stare into the distance. Sorry.

"Lucas?" Link's hand in front of my face snaps me out of the horrible memory.

Ness doesn't seem flustered by my behavior. He knows where he is going. He knows I remember.

"Pick a random door, Lucas. Once you're in just step inside the teleporter," Lucario tells me. He walks up to a door. It reads FIRE AND LEAF ST.

"No, better go to that one, that way we will be at different sides of the city." Link points one almost at the end. "And I will take this one." He heads to a door not far from mine. TIME AV.

Once everyone is on their door, I walk up to mine. RED MUSHROOM ST. "Remember to keep in contact. Good luck, guys," Ness says his last words before walking through his door.

Link and Lucario nod and then enter. I follow their instructions, and enter the room. It is quite small, with blue walls, in which there is a poster with instructions of the teleporter at the opposite end. "I don't have time for those.

I approach the teleporter, and stand in its pad. Aside me, there is a button, which says the same address as outside the door. RED MUSHROOM ST. Around the red button, there are also others, with more complex configuration. I decide to ignore those. I ball up a fist, and punch the red button.

Two curved arms over my head start spinning. The pad below me shots a blue light upwards; it connects with the two arms and the light coats me entirely. The same sensation as when I first arrived into this place strikes me again: I feel my body as if it was being torn apart but without the pain.

The intense light forces my eyes to blink. When I open my eyes again I find myself in a similar room. However, this time there's a slight rumble on the floor. I open the door and find out I'm inside a building. I don't have to walk too far to see where the lobby is; the typical wooden desk facing several glass doors and windows, and several plants decorating the place.

Outside, several men and women in uniform try leading startled people to a safer place. All of that between roars coming from seemingly every direction. I decide to turn away from that scene.

Something else gets my attention. Finally, I understand the cause of the rumble: a bunch of people trying to escape the building… as a blood-thirsty roar echoes from far inside the building.

A young man trips in front of me. "Run!" he tells me, and then when he looks at my eyes, a shiver seems to go up his body. "Lucas…"

I raise my hand, trying to say I'm not going to harm him, but it is useless, as the man gets to his feet and runs away.

That was not my fault…

I step in front of a woman, whom I suppose due to her clothing, works in the building. She looks shocked to see me at first. "Can you tell me what's inside?" I ask.

"T-There's a huge m-monster!" When the last word leaves her mouth, she runs past me.

I give a few steps forward, and then start running deep into the building. I step into a barely working escalator. Another roar followed by a thump tells me to go faster, so I stride my way up the escalator to the second floor.

The lights barely work in the second floor. When I get there, scarcely any people are still trying to escape. The inside would be dark if it was not for the sunlight entering through a few open windows in the hallway. Screams fill the lower floor, but they soon fade as I walk deeper into the hallway. A couple of minutes go away, and the whole floor falls into a depressing silence.

I find a body lying on the floor, face-down. I crouch beside the body. Hopefully he's still alive. I lean closer to the body, and then reach out with my hand to touch it, but a strange sensation shocks my body. I quickly retract my hand. Is this how the people wound up after I fired my PK Love?

That's horrible. Now that I see the body, it's obvious it won't come back to live. I better let it go away peacefully.

My brief trance is abruptly interrupted by another roar not far from me.

I walk away the body with certain disgust, trying to forget what I saw. I haven't seen a lifeless body in years; since I traveled all across the Nowhere Islands to be exact. I was so young… I don't want to remember.

In my way towards the noise, another body lays in the floor… and another, and a couple more. I count 4 more bodies all tainted in blood and surrounded by spots of the same red fluid. My stomach reacts negatively as it seems to spin in the inside, bringing nausea to my mouth. I get the urgency to throw up at the horrible scene. I almost fall trying to back away from the bodies. However, the nausea goes away when another roar comes out from a room a few meters from me, followed by a slight rumble on the floor. I use the noises to make my mind erase what I just saw. Was the origin of that roar what caused this slaughter? No, it was Porky.

"_Guys, report in!" _Ness voice sounds in my left ear. The headset.

"_There's no signal of the scientist," _Lucario responds._ "I have asked other Smashers and no one saw him leaving."_

There's a brief silence. _"Link?" _Ness asks. _"Are you t-there?"_

"_Yeah," _When Link responds I hear a sigh coming from Ness. "_Is just that… There's a chimera in here… No signal of Andonuts, though…"_

"Same here, I'm clueless." I glance at the room where the roars came from… but they have stopped. "I suspect there's a chimera in the building I am, by the way. I'm going to investigate."

"_Aight, guys. Take care, Ness out." _After a bit of static the silence reigns my ears once again.

Hesitating on my actions, I get closer to the door. From the outside I catch a glimpse of what looks like a paw. Resting in the floor, a gray paw with long, deadly claws.

I take out the thunder sword from my pocket and activate it. As the electric blade appears a few sparks are shot in random directions. I create a small fire with my right hand and put a foot inside the room, and then make a small leap inside.

I get surprised when I find out the gray paw belongs to a dead chimera. A wolf of my size, with the half of its head, and its two front legs metallic. Sharp silver fur coats its entire body… And a hole in the middle of its torso pours out blood.

I quickly spin my head towards the opposite side of the room.

"Lucas…" the man says between breaths. "…what a surprise."

My eyes widen when I see him. The memory is still ablaze in my head. "You're the one who was with Mario the day he set my room on fire!"

He drops a crowbar dyed in blood into the floor. "I am Wario, kid… And Mario wondered where you were…"

I stare into Wario's eyes, being careful he doesn't move. I put out the fire on my hand and place it in the headset and press the button to talk. "Wario is in here, guys. He was with Mario the day he put my room on fire."

"_Ness told me he encountered a chimera, too, Lucas. I will see what I can do… For now you should go away, Wario is quite dangerous… Don't get close to him."_

"Watcha' doing there, kid? Begging for help… Ha-ha!"

I want to respond to Lucario, but if I must pay attention to Wario's words and actions. "No, but I was pursuing the chimera I saw entering the building," I lie. "I don't want to fight."

"What? You're just trying to save yourself." His words turn into a hysterical laughter. "I know very well Mario wants you dead."

"Maybe, but does that have to do with you… or you are the one who do the dirty work for him?"

"Ha! There's no such thing as a dirty job if you get money."

"Forget that. We shall fight to get these monsters out of the city. Is not that why you joined the Smashers? To protect the others." For what I have seen so far, the Smashers are proud of what they are: a group of heroes to fight for a common goal. If I convince Wario of going away, I can go back to my mission before the time runs out.

"Protect the others… I'm going to throw up at such corny words. I joined the Smashers 'cause here," he throws his hands into the air, "is where money is that. There's nothing as precious as money."

That's when I realize I won't be able to speak my way out. Wario reminds me of the people that discovered money and its uses in Newpork city (the place where Porky ruled and he used its people to join his brainless army). People led by the desire of having more money, even if they didn't need more; it didn't matter the cost.

"The day Mario went to see you, he paid me a great amount of money just to keep that little event as a secret." He takes out a big gold coin, and grasps it with ecstasy."Imagine how much he will pay me when I tell him I killed the murderer of his little brother."

"Murderer? Luigi is not dead!" I yell at him. He can't say something like that.

"He is dying right now, unfortunately. Maybe Mario is at his side, or not… The case is that you took that life, and I will take yours, and then after I have my money everyone will be happy."

This man won't stop now. Sorry, Andonuts, you will have to wait.

* * *

><p><strong>The invasion has begun and you will see more of it in the next chapter. Now, with Lucas crucial decision already done the time runs out faster than before, and with Dr. Andonuts missing everything seems to go even worse.<strong>

**Thanks for reading :D**


	10. No Help is Coming

**After several weeks I bring you "No Help is Coming."** **I took more time to revise and correct this chapter, which just made the chapter delay more, but it was definitely worth it.**

**Enjoy!**

**Roseal: Haha, that's good to hear!**

* * *

><p>"<em>Lucas, is everything OK?"<em>

I click the headset and respond, "I will have to fight Wario."

As I talk, Wario stares at me, a cocky smile crossing his face.

"_Lucas, don't fight him. You don't even know what he can do. We will try to help you soon. Where are you?" _

"In a building the teleporter took me to." With my response, Lucario cuts the communication.

"So? Is someone helping coming to rescue the princess?" Wario quips.

I stay silent.

"What? Your friends forbade you talking to me? Anything's good for me. If you drop that nice sword, I promise killing you as painless as possible," he tells me.

I stay silent again. He gives a step forward, so I respond with a fighting stance and raise my sword. "I would prefer if you shut that mouth and let me kill you without doing a mess."

"Very nice…" His hooking thumbs like beast-horns tug the straps on his overall. "In that case you make the first move."

"I wi–" Before I finish he leans forward and pounces in my direction. What was I expecting?

I jump backwards, evading his fist, and then slash the sword horizontally, but he easily dodges. I expected that. "PK Fire!" I throw my right hand forward and a stream of fire flies through the air. He rolls in the ground barely saving himself of the attack.

"Don't try surprising me, kid. I have seen you fight Samus. Not bad, but not amazing."

He rushes towards me, the floor rumbling with each step. I aim at him with an opened hand and cast a PSI wave.

He seems to know what is coming and forces his way through my attack. He follows throwing a punch that screams past my face as I lean to one side. I slash downwards trying to catch him off guard. Wario overpowers me, though, and grabs my wrist halting the sword. Once my momentum stops, he yanks my arm and hurls me to the other end.

Crashing with a wall, I fall to the floor helplessly. Small rocks from the wall litter the floor around me.

He tries kicking me but I dive away from him. I rise to my feet and say, "PK Thunder!" Twin thunders are shot from the sword and one lands on Wario.

I charge with my sword and try stabbing him, but he ducks under my sword and kick my hand disarming me. The sword flies to the other side of the room.

A quick jab connects with my face, then another and Wario hoists me from the floor. He runs and collides with the wall using me as a shield. The wall collapses behind Wario.

My back feels like it is going to break after that.

I get to my feet again and cast a small ray at Wario. It connects paralyzing him for a brief moment. Quickly, with my fist coated in ice, I throw a punch at his face. He stumbles backwards. "PK Freeze!" The ice is casted from my hand. It hits Wario and nearly knocks him to the floor. I push him using a PSI wave to create space between us.

I plant my hand into the floor and wait until I feel power energizing me. PK Love. Before I finish preparing myself, however, Wario takes out a bomb from somewhere in his back and is ready to hurl it.

I lose focus of PK Love and swiftly shift my attention to put up a PSI Shield in front of me. I do it barely in time as Wario throws the bomb an instant later. The time seems to go slower as the bomb flies across the hall. I cover my face, not knowing how much damage the bomb will do. An explosion roars in my ears without mercy. The PSI Shield explodes in thousands of pieces and still the leftover power of the explosion reaches me. I get thrown to the floor, my body sliding several feet.

I lay in the floor for a moment, still dazed by the powerful explosion. My ears keep ringing creating a momentary deafness. I get up with difficulties… only to meet another of Wario punches, this time in my stomach. It makes me bend over and he embraces me tightly. I'm too sore to react. He jumps high on the air and spins around.

Wario crashes me headfirst on the floor.

He squats beside me and yells with ecstasy, "Piledriver, baby!"

I take advantage of this moment of smugness coming from Wario and smash him in the stomach with a PSI-charged fist.

The sword must in the room; I need it. I notice Wario is dazed by the last attack, and my body sill hurts, so I mutter a couple of words and my hand is coated by a green, healing light. I let the light travel across my body for a few seconds to regain some energy.

When Wario seems to recover, he rummages into his overall and takes out a pot of some kind. He glances at me and then back at the pot. The pot is shattered in his hand and after a few seconds, horns emerge from each side of his cap.

"What is that…?"

A belly laugh comes out of him and is followed by a powerful punch into the floor. A shockwave lifts me into the air, making me lose control.

He charges, horns in front like a bull, ready to impale me.

I create small force fields as Wario rushes at full speed. I push my hands outwards to divert his horns. Wario's sheer strength throws me into the floor. I shake off the daze and recover myself only to find out Wario impaled the wall instead. I take advantage of this and knee him in the stomach.

I step back and focus. Sparks leap off my hand and I say, "PK Thunder!" I pull my hand back, ready to deliver the attack. My slow execution, though, gives Wario another opportunity. He frees himself and kicks me, barely reaching my leg, but enough to make me lose balance and release 3 thunders on the ceiling instead.

Wario lets out a screech as a piece of debris breaks on his skull.

I lean forward and deliver a punch. I didn't think of charging my fist with PSI unfortunately. Even dazed, Wario easily spars the punch and hits me with a backhand in retaliation.

I get knocked down and slide in the floor. Wario slowly restores his balance. I look back and spot Claus' sword. This may be my only chance. I race inside the destroyed room and pick up the sword. It spits sparks furiously, as if begging me to use it.

When I turn back to Wario, I see another pot in his hands. Once again he shatters the pot. The horns on his hat fall off and are replaced by a dragon's head. "Better start praying kid," he tells me power walking in my direction.

He halts outside of the room, several feet from me. He pulls his head back... I whip the thunder sword above my head and bring it down at the same time he jerks his head forward. Twin streams of fire blast off the dragon's nostrils confronting a roaring thunder from the sword.

The fire breaks through the thunder –and vice versa – without problems. The fire wall increases in size enough to overwhelm me. "PK Freeze!" Not thinking straight, I create a wall of ice to shield me. It's not PSI Shield but it does the job and endures the fire barrage.

When the fire dispels, I find out my attack's result. Wario stumbles out of the room almost falling over. He grasps his right forearm using his left hand, his face showing an incredible amount of pain. He let go his forearm and bites his lower lip in frustration.

And then I find out the source of his pain. The thunder opened a gaping hole in his forearm–in which I can see through the other side. A wide smirk appears on my face… but then it fades when I realize I'm happy over another man's pain. That's something… Porky would do.

I glare at the panicking man. The thunderbolt almost tore away his arm.

"Wario!" I call him. I give a dominant step forward, aiming at him menacingly with my sword. "There's something I want more than your death right now. If you tell me what I want I will forget this and let you go."

He walks closer to me, "Tell me…" Just as I think I have won this fight, Wario launches a frontal kick. I fall in my rear and Wario lets out a cry. He pulls his left fist back giving me a warning of his next action. I foretell this and slash his arm with the sword. The electric blade slides across his arm as if it was butter, scorching his skin instantly. His momentum makes him continue his assault, however. Still in the floor I spar his attack easily. He cries in pain and I bring him down viciously.

Sprawled on the floor, Wario lays almost unconscious.

"I will take that as an accident," I say harshly, the thunder sword menacing Wario inches away from his face. "Now tell me…" I make a short pause to see his expression. "I'm sure you've heard of Doctor Andonuts… He's missing and I know he wouldn't leave the mansion without telling me or Ness. And I have figured one of you, Smashers, must be related to his disappearance. Furthermore, if someone wanted him gone or away from me, the first name that would pop up is Mario, right? And since you are the one who takes out the thrash for him, it's safe to say that you know what happened to him. Start speaking."

With my reasons of accusing Wario of Andonuts' disappearance explained, he won't be able to stall this talk. If I don't get my answers, however, I do not know what I will do.

"I see…" Wario says and grimaces at the pain. "I do know about the doctor… Listen…" He makes a gargling sound and spits blood in my shoes.

"You got some nerve considering I am the one with the sword… and two good arms."

I don't have time for this crap. After casting a glare at Wario as if warning him I bend down and punch him in the stomach. Blood shoots out from his mouth. Before I do my next move a voice interrupts me.

"_Lucas, are you there?" _

"Ness? Yes."

"It… is your girl?" Wario says between breaths. My patience drains with each of his words. "Tell her she… forgot her wallet last night… It's empty now, though." He tries laughing but almost chokes with his own blood instead.

I kick him twice in the gut. "Shut up! Your next words better be about Andonuts!"

"_How is everything going? I hope you didn't fight Wario," _Ness says in a hurry.

"I did fight him. And he's done."

"_What?" _Ness raises his voice. _"Lucario told you not to!"_

I exit the room, keeping an eye on Wario from the outside. "And you expected me to run or what? He started the–" A red drop trickles down my cheek and another one follows. Suddenly, several drops of blood spot the floor. I take a hand to my forehead and see my palm stained in red. My peripheral vision is not clear anymore due to a blur in the corner of my eyes expanding into my eyesight.

"_Lucas?"_

"As I said, he started the fight. I could only follow."

"_Hmm… Still, I will try to go as soon as possible. For now, have you asked him about Dr. Andonuts?"_

"I have. The bastard said he knows but he won't tell me. I don't know what to do."

"_I doubt you can force him to tell you."_

"I told you before. He's now in the floor, bleeding out. He lost an arm and the other is all burned up. And yet he doesn't talk."

There's a pause in Ness' side. _"Have you tried reading his mind?"_

"'Reading his mind?'"

"_Oh, guess you don't know."_

"I didn't know it was possible! How I do it?"

"_It will be hard to do it perfectly since it's your first time. However, we have no other option. First place your hand in his forehead and close your eyes. Then you will have to put your mind in blank. Imagine you have done this hundreds of times. It's all about self-confidence and imagination really. And… well, it's kind of complex to explain, but hopefully your instinct will kick in."_

I double-check word by word Ness' instructions in my head. It sounds complicated. "Thanks, Ness. I will try."

"_Anyway, I'm going to go with you once–Marth!"_ A shiver goes up my spine as the communication is abruptly cut.

With Ness gone the only sound left is Wario's agitated breathing.

I go back inside the room, my steps hammering the floor. Once I stop in front of Wario, he casts me a glare. In response my eyes fix on his. "One last chance," I tell him, adding emphasis on "one". "Are you going to tell me about Andonuts?"

"Not a single word will leave my mouth," he responds. He grits his teeth and his hands struggle to create a fist.

"That leaves me with one option." I step back from him and raise an opened hand. A yellow sphere appears on my palm. Without warning, I pull my arm back and impact the sphere in Wario's chest. Sparks travel across his body and he enters in a paralysis state.

With Wario paralyzed the time has come to read his mind.

I crouch beside him and close my eyes. Just as Ness said, I forget my surroundings, erase my thoughts and ignore the pain in my body. I reach out with my hand and touch his forehead…

"What is he doing?" An inner voice unknown to me echoes inside my head. "I need to get him off me." It's Wario. He's thinking inside my head.

"He killed Luigi and I will make him pay." Apparently, I can also "read" past thoughts. I shall focus in what I want to know and it may reflect on his memories.

"Why, Mario? Why you didn't kill that scientist? It would have been better…" There. Good, Andonuts is still OK. I need more, though. "It was stupid of you simply forcing the scientist to travel back to his home. You don't even know if he did go back." More, more!

"I will have to go to Dimension Central and do this by myself. You will owe me big time, Ma… Mar… Mario." What now?

A moment later Wario's voice fades, leaving no trace.

My eyes open furiously as something burns my face. I blink several times trying to adapt my eyes back to the surroundings. I look down at Wario. A wide smirk crosses his face. My sight shifts to the dragon head glowing red from inside its nostrils.

In a blur, I grab the thunder sword sitting beside me. "No!" I will not let the fire hit me. It will kill me at this distance.

With sword in hand, I raise it just enough to get momentum. I shot one last glare at Wario–with such anger I'm sure I wouldn't recognize myself.

I finally bring the sword down, impaling his heart. Blood splutters from his chest and stains the sword–at the same time electricity runs across his body.

The dragon head still glows red for a moment. I promptly push the head to face the other direction. The dragon releases its fire.

I stare at Wario's body for a moment. More blood drips from my face and blends with the increasing pool of red liquid at my feet.

I let go the sword and instinctively crawl away from the body and then look at the sword. It stands upright embedded on Wario, almost as a sign of victory. But this is not a victory.

"No… I did… not want that."

I raise my right hand to look at it. The fire reached it. I can't even move my fingers with my hand like this.

I can't help but stare at Wario's corpse. "It was self-defense, though. I was not planning to kill him…" My voice cracks with each word. "But… but… with those wounds on his arms he was not going to exit this place alive… I just left him in the cold floor suffering."

Time goes by. Slowly. It reminds me of my brother when he struck himself with lighting. The time froze that day. However, I know the time hasn't stopped now. Each second I lost increases Porky's chances to destroy this world.

"I was supposed to protect, and all I've done is condemn those with whom I have crossed paths. I came here to save my world! Not to assist the destruction of another!"

You have fought for us, Lucas.

"Shut up! Don't you see? Wario was killed by that sword in my hands; Luigi is probably dead just because I wanted revenge! And… and… I don't want to think about that."

Stop lying to yourself. You have done what needed to be done.

Furiously I press my left hand against my ear, "Silence, Claus!" Claus? What am I talking about? He's not here…

Hurried steps echo outside of the room. Must be another poor bastard trying to escape this hell. They will just go into another outside.

"Lucas!" That voice. "Lucas! Are you here?" Ness.

If I could only gather strength to exit the room I could probably find him. Just a few steps and I will be out. "Argh!"

"Lucas!" Ness' head peeks through the hole that serves as entrance to the room. "Oh, gosh…"

He walks into the room with heavy steps. Sorrow seems to take over him after spotting Wario's corpse. Following a brief stare at Wario, Ness tips his hat over his sight.

"I was… late…" The words come out sluggishly, as if he couldn't accept them.

Carelessly, he steps in the pool of blood and grasps the thunder sword firmly. "Rest," he says, pulling the sword out of Wario with certain anger in the motion. Exhaling with a sigh, he takes out a small towel and places it on Wario's now forever sleeping face.

Ness turns on his heels and rushes up to me. He crouches, sorrowful eyes fixing on my burned hand, then on my eyes. "Wario d-did it?"

"Yes."

He powers off the thunder sword and put it in his pocket. "Your forehead. You… you look terrible. We have to go back to the mansion."

I reach out with my good hand and grab his wrist. "No way. Remember Andonuts."

"Look at you!"

"I didn't get Andonuts' location for nothing, Ness."

He sighs and sits back, in front of me. "…We lost Marth. You killed Wario, and Master Hand told me Luigi is dead." The last words make me shut my eyes with rage. "I also heard we lost someone else in Lucario's area…" Ness' eyes water as he finishes speaking–I barely notice it with his cap shadowing his eyes.

"That's why we have to continue–"

"But you are not in condition! I can't let yourself risk like this…"

Ness' words cause a brief smile on my face. And then I get a chance get a better look at his face. A deep gash extends just over his brow–it still looks recent. Blood and dust smear his face along with several cuts, and his lower lip looks just as bad as the rest of his face. A piece of skin was torn from there without mercy. It looks painful.

"Hmph, you look as terrible as me."

"It's been a long day." His voice has relaxed. "Alright. We will go."

"Good," I say.

"However, if we bump into more trouble you will not fight."

"Ah?" I hold my head trying to suppress the throbbing. I blink a couple times trying to remember something… Where did Wario say they had Andonuts? "I c–can't remember Dr. Andonuts' location."

Ness' eyes widen and he asks, "But you read his mind?"

"Yes, that is what–"

"No problem, Luke. I will read your mind. What mattered is you got the information."

I frown at his idea.

"OK, first…" A green glows coats Ness' hand. His hand hovers over my forehead. I feel most of the pain going away.

"This will take a second, and may feel odd." He extends his left hand in front of my forehead. Taking his time–and probably fearing to hurt me–he reaches out with two fingers and comb back locks of hair shadowing my forehead. Golden locks seemed to be plastered to my forehead. Probably the sweat.

"Apparently you lost quite some blood from your head." With the back of his hand he wipes my forehead, and I notice a few drops of the red fluid spotting the floor. "Sorry if that hurt, all that blood makes hard for me to focus… and, heh, you looked terrible."

"Now," he lays his right hand over my forehead. He closes his eyes and I can clearly feel the odd sensation of someone reading my mind.

Thoughts and memories pop up from nowhere in my head. What I thought of Ness the first time I saw him. My decision-making in the fight with Samus. The blinding anger I felt when I put Luigi into coma. Dr. Andonuts' location. All those memories are as clear as water in my head but quickly disappear leaving no trace. For an instant I forget who Samus is, what I did to Luigi and how Andonuts looked like. It all disappears and then I remember again. Just like when you're trying to remember something that seems obvious but is blurry in your head. The name of someone or the location of a friend's house.

If I didn't know Ness was reading my mind, I would have probably ignored the sudden–and fading – rush of memories and take it as something unimportant and random.

"Done!" Ness says, excited. "Dimension Central. I know that place. That's how people not related to the Smashers enter this world. A massive array of teleportation gates."

"It is far?"

"Near the center of the city. I can teleport there, though, so no worries."

"Good." Ness looks ready to go, now. I should be too.

I manage to put myself in a crouch position without using my burned hand. I spring up with mustered strength.

"Wait. You haven't teleported once before…"

"I have, Ness. Twice in fact."

"Not like that, you silly. The way I do. You are still pretty weak, but if you want to come you will have to hold onto me and not let go. You may end up crashing with something otherwise."

I nod to Ness–not completely sure what he meant, though. My blurry vision interferes in my attempt to exit the room. I give a step in the wrong direction and crash with the wall! Pain explodes on my head. "Argh!"

"Ouch! That must have hurt," Ness tells me. I hold back a sarcastic response against his meaningless comment since my words would be as meaningless. There's no case in responding. Perhaps, he was trying to be sympathetic.

"Let me help you, Luke," he says, grabbing me by the shoulders and then pointing at the correct direction. "Just follow me closely. We don't want you to wind up worse."

I'm not letting anyone stop me on recovering my world. And even though I can't bear to look back at Wario's body–something that was my doing–, I will have to swallow it and continue on. Just like I've done throughout my whole life.

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><p><strong>Hmmm, this chapter got longer than I thought it would be. That's good! Well, till' the next chapter!<strong>


	11. Dimension Central

**Following Wario's last thoughts, Lucas goes along Ness to Dimension Central in search for Andonuts.**

**The fact this chapter didn't come earlier was not because of me, seriously: I finished the two last chapters of my other fic, I didn't have internet for a week and then my pc acted like it was going to explode. It was a miracle I could finish this chapter at last. The good thing is the chapter came out as desired.**

**Roseal : It was not _easy_! Awesome, hopefully this chapter does the same :)**

* * *

><p>"Guys, we are going to Dimension Central. That's where we suppose the Dr. is. We'll see you there?" Ness asks Link and Lucario.<p>

Their response goes through my headset as well, _"Don't expect me, soon," _it's Link, _"The place is just as busy as when I arrived."_

Lucario's answer is the same as Link's, _"Here, too. I prefer to stay until things are less agitated."_

"Right, till later, then," Ness cuts the communication.

I follow Ness over to the lobby. He stops and says, "Listen, you will take my hand and hold it as if your life depended on it… because it actually will. As we travel you may suffer cold and dizziness. It will be briefly."

"S'okay, let's go."

He strides to the end of the lobby and waits for me. Ness extends a hand and I grasp it tightly. "Ready?"

I nod as a response. Ness brings a loose hand to his forehead, closing his eyes for a second. "Here we go!"

Like a Rhinocerocket (a rhino merged with a rocket) we are boosted forward. We leave a burning trail behind us as a black hole appears in our path. The portal attracts us inside it, its blackness reminiscent of the darkness inside a wolf's mouth. We enter and I feel my senses being torn away from me.

Did Ness say it would be a brief moment? This seems an eternity.

I can't see a thing. Left and right, up and down, it's all darkness. Okay… I blink and confirm my eyes are opened. I look forward but Ness is not there. I attempt to raise my arm to my eyes but I can't feel it at all. Is it numb?

Ness? I'm sure I didn't hear the word coming out of my mouth. Ness? Are you there? No, I can't speak, or scream for help. Is this place soundless too? I'm whistling! Then why can't I hear a thing!

The last time I tasted something it was blood. I hate its metal-like savor, but I prefer it over nothing. Now I lick my lips and palate searching for some savor in them. But there's none. Instead I get to taste something that reminds me of a simple ice cube. Lacking a real savor, its coldness is the only thing perceptible.

There's no case in searching for a smell; the last things I tried took turned my breathing agitated; and inhaling and exhaling didn't bring a smell to my nose with the exception of that dreadful nothingness.

Then, if I can't feel my arm, see my surroundings, hear my voice… why is there a chill assaulting my body. It soon penetrates my being, making me feel frozen inside. I would attempt to use PK Fire but I don't know how it could react with Ness' teleport… Am I at least… at least still in the middle of the teleport? I should be. Or maybe, just maybe, I lost Ness in this endless dimension. He could've lost the grasp of my hand and left me floating in this cold place for…

Ah? I command my eyes to look down to the hand that's supposed to be holding Ness. A dim light reveals our hands are still clasped. He squeezes my hand as if reassuring me I have not been left behind and we are yet to go to Dimension Central.

The cold begins to slip away from my body and the pain of my recently burned arm comes back slowly. We are approaching the exit of this void.

I am suddenly yanked back to reality. With a gasp I come out of the portal, unconsciously following Ness' paces until we halt. At last I let go Ness' hand and fall to my knees. Air lacks in my lungs but I am freaking gladtobe now back into reality. Though before I'm back to my senses fully, Ness pulls me to my feet and drags me from the arm.

"Jeff told me not to use Teleport whenever I had an open wound, and still I took Lucas with me with his arm like that. Idiot," Ness' mutter reaches my ears.

My sight is still blurry due to the teleporting and thus I can't see where Ness is taking me. Nonetheless I have enough balance to follow his pace. Roars and yells and gunshots surround us but I try to ignore them. Ness slows down as we enter a white room… the public bathrooms?

"So, enjoyed the trip?" he asks.

I lean in the wall behind me and manage to complete a sentence, "It was tormenting…"

He sighs, "Sorry, I wasn't sure your wound was going to react badly. I should've told you."

"I was coming with you either way."

"Now, let's see if I can leave this a little better." He takes my arm and the healing process starts.

So that was what caused the lack of sense and extreme coldness–my opened wound. It was a huge price to pay to teleport here quickly. And I am useless now. Wario left something to remember him after all.

Ness finishes and my sight has improved as well. The throbs in the wound continue and have left me with only one fully functional arm for now. That will have to do.

"There," Ness says. He turns on a tap and throws water on my face. "Wake up! We gotta continue."

I groan at the cold water even though it actually makes me more alerted.

I follow Ness out of the public bathrooms and I get the first lookat the massive teleporting central. The sunlight enters through several, fancy-looking glass doorways, which most of them are now shattered in the floor. The giant foyer is mainly crammed with chimeras and people and–what I think are otherworldly creatures–aliens running from them, while, what I guess are Smashers, Assistants and Allies fight to keep the civilians safe. The once chrome flooring is now tainted by the price of any fight: blood, corpses…

Above in the ceiling a war is waged between flying chimeras and huge metallic birds–their red wings looking as sharp as a perfect blade–maneuvering back and forth, using the enormous chandeliers as defense and offense.

In one corner of the foyer people are crammed behind the backs of Allies fending off two powerful cattlesnake chimeras (this odd merge has a great size and strength). The Allies yell the civilians to escape to the hallway near them, opposite to where I am, but few of them achieve to escape safely.

In the center sofas have been arranged to defend Fox and his partner, an Assitantwho I've seen before; he has blond hair that is tied on the back and also a strand of hair hanging from the front; a yellow shirt that has several gun straps across it, and denim shorts very similar to mine**. **He is shooting whoever gets close with a very particular gun in his hands."Saki, go around that thing and help that people in the corner!"

A screen is upon the wall over the entrance still showing the names of several locations**–**Hyrule, Sinnoh, Dream Land–and their proper gateway apparently. However, a second later one of the metallic birds crashes on the screen, bringing it down to crush any creature below it. Every sound goes silent for a moment when the screen explodes in the floor, the only sounds left coming from the beeping alarm all around the central and the cries deeper in the building.

Ness taps my shoulder furiously, "Dude, we've got to hurry!"

We run down a long hallway where stores at either side are sheltering a few people. I would help them, but I will help more if I continue my actual mission. Near the end I see a Mecha-Lion and a horseantula terrorizing the people hiding in the stores; the latter chimera being a fusion between a horse head and a tarantula body.

Suddenly a person crosses our path, and as I am going to react, he greets us. "Sup Ness! Long time no see."

I can only assume he is an Ally since I haven't seen his… stylish choice of clothing: a pair of yellow sunglasses, spiky black hair, a fancy leather jacket, and jeans held by a brown belt; he's also wielding two beam swords.

"Travis," Ness greets back, giving Travis a unique greeting. "This is…"

"Lucas, right?" hesays, "That's a nasty wound you got there, you should get that treated."

I glance at my arm. It does look "nasty". There's barely any untouched skin left, only the horrible mark where Wario burned me, which has turned my flesh a dark red mainly. "We are in the middle of something."

Travis gives me a disapproval look. "What is that?"

"We are looking for Dr. Andonuts, a friend. A scientist,black glasses, scarce white hair… Just how typical scientists look," Ness says.

"Oh, yes, you don't see those Einstein styleguys often around here. I saw him going to the Earth section before this started."

"Thanks, Travis," Ness and I were beginning to move away when Travis calls us.

"I should go with you." He swings his two laser swords. "I may be of help."

"Okay, okay, but let's go," I say.

"Wait, you can come with us, but you have to let me use one of your swords at least for a while." Ness grins in his characteristic mischievousness.

"I prefer not to give you a beam katana. Don't want you to chop off you arm."

"Whatever… Luke, you stay behind."

We resume our way down the hallway when the two chimeras, that were taking turns to take down a rolling door, notice us.

"Oh my… Lucas any useful info?" Ness asks me slowly backing up.

"Both of them are quite fast; the horseantula's bite is poisonous and the mecha-lion's tail as well." The lion's tail is not poisonous but it will give them another reason to stay away from it.

"Remember that day in theMulti-Man Brawl, Ness?" Travis asks.

"We broke the record and… Ah, Ifeel ya."

In the blink of an eye, the mecha-lion begins its race toward Ness, the horseantula behind it. He, however, keeps his ground in the chimera's path. My body wants to interfere, but soon enough I see I don't have to.

"PK Paralysis!" Ness sidesteps to one side as the mecha-lion was about to ram into him. The chimera roars, seeing it failed to hit Ness. It sweeps the floor with its paw just like a bull would do and before it can move, Ness shots a small electrified ball from his hand. The chimera cries and its body goes stiff, collapsing into the floor.

For a moment I fear Ness forgot about the horseantula, and then he points his palm at it. He swings his arm upwards and then in Travis' direction. The beast follows his movement. As though Ness was a magician, the chimera is lifted into the air and then thrown to the side. Travis pulls back his sword, batter style and slashes the horseantula as it flies by. The sword leaves a long, deep gash and the chimera falls defeated.

While Travis finished off the horseantula, I see Ness having problems doing the same with the mecha-lion. His eyes reflect pity and his movements are uncoordinated.

"Ah, you should go there and see if everyone is okay… I will…" Travis glances down at the paralyzed mecha-lion, "I will catch up in a moment."

We reach the end of the hallway and Travis joins us again. I walk into a new area, maybe bigger than the entrance. There are at least 4 doorways in this end of the room, each one having odd, foreign names. Ness said it's an array of teleportation gates… to enter and exit this world perhaps?

And in the opposite end I see several more doorways, one of them reading 'Earth'. Directly in front of me, near each corner stand two modules which I don't know their purposes, and between these modules the entrance of what seems like a mall. In the center there's a stand with the word information around its top. I spot two Allies inside there shooting at everything that moves.

Near thestand and parallel to the mall entrance, two rows of sofas–or similar furniture–stand in front of a massive screen which at the moment is just a reminder of how fancy this place was before the invasion.

"So, I saw that guy going through the Earth section. We should go there first," Travis suggests.

"It won't be easy…" Ness commented; and I have to second that opinion. This hall resembles the entrance, a downright battlefield. Several chimeras, horseantulas, cattlesnakes, mecha-turtles, kangasharks, batangutan… fight against plenty of Assitants, Allies and one or two Smashers over the domination of this place.

Princess Zelda is in here, and Captain Olimar with (was that his name?) his army of… those creatures that come from the earth.

"Four Smashers in one place?" I ask, "Why is Master Hand sending so many Smashers just in here? He has to protect the whole planet."

"This location is vital, Luke," Ness tells me. "We can't afford to lose it."

"Stay close to the wall to get to the other side, I will cover ya," Travis says.

Ness slightly pushes me, "Go."

With Ness at my side and Travis a few feet behind, I scoot along the wall focusing in the 'Earth' doorway. Every single scream and cry seems directly in my ear, but I force myself to not look back.

A chimera, the fearful hippo launcher, suddenly intercepts me. The hippo has never looked more terrifying now that it is opening its massive jaws to release a missile.

"Lucas!" Ness bounds in front of me and jerks his hand forward. The chimera recoils violently, bumping its side with a piece of debris. Travis dashes to come in from the chimera's back.

"Move away," I yell with a hand around my mouth to be heard louder than the orchestra that the battlefield is.

The mechanical part of the hippo's backside opens like a trunk revealing to Travis a missile pod. He leaps out of the way as three missiles are shot, and then explode along with a wall.

Travis lunges his two swords into the beast's side. Two last missiles are shot; Ness jumps a bit as a reaction.

He take his eyes off the chimera, his eyes show revulsion, and beckons me to continue.

I lead our small group running across the rest of the room when out of nowhere I hear roar… This time, though, its source is not somewhere else in the room but charging at me. I yelp preparing my PSI, but a small yellow creature with a flower in his head leaps towards the chimera's massive body… An instant later, this creature is soon followed by at least one hundred more.

I glance further from the chimera to receive a quick nod from Captain Olimar. We are just a few more steps to reach our destination but then I see a blue light blocking the doorway. "Wait," Ness tells me. He hurries and takes out a small keycard; after sliding the keycard in a slot near the door, the light disappears instantly.

As I walk through the doorway and enter the next section, Travis speaks up, "I'm leaving you here, guys. It should be safer around here and…" He glances back at the battlefield in the last room, and looks back at us with a grin. "They clearly need me. Good luck." Ness was about to say something but Travis was already far away. Wow, he's fast.

Compared to the last room, this section has a different vibe. The only noise in here, for example, is from the last room, a fading echo. Though not as big, this section is yet remarkable; a simple white, squared room with several tables and chairs; the center, even though it has a beautiful fountain, spacious and perfect for a great amount of people to walk in the cross-like path without problem. Unfortunately, the sight is ruined by the bodies of several types of chimeras; some are over flipped tables and others lying on a part of the long flowerpots. An exit on each end of the room marks our next step towards finding the Dr.

This place would be pretty much dead if it wasn't for the few plants, a lizard sniffing a fallen chimera and Ness and I. "What happened?" I ask while we stop besides the fountain.

"How should I know?" Ness pauses for a moment, looking around. "Right there, come on."

We enter another hallway that is quickly covered and then find ourselves in another immense, wide and crowded room with several paths to choose from. "This again…" I comment, for which this room has yet another battlefield bursting in it.

Ness points his finger to the far part of the room where a group of persons are huddled together behind a barrier of earth. Then, I spot what Ness was referring to: behind the barrier the top of a head with disheveled hair in each side sticks out. At the top of the barrier stands a small sort of round creature with his belly tan coloredand the rest of its body a light brown; purple eyes like gems, spikes in his back and a tail. It seems it is communicating with somebody. Somehow I know that.

We break into a run heading to the group of people. We go alongside the nearest wall and possibly spare an encounter with a chimera. However, that idea is discarded as soon as a chimera spots us and begins charging. At the same time the chimera is about to bound on us, something tackles it from the side.

"A goron!" Ness exclaims, surprised.

The "goron" is a huge, light-brown creature; it stands tall and looks powerful almost double my size. It has rocks protruding from its back, and they look like an excellent defense. Ness helps the goron to take out the chimera in seconds and then we continue.

We arrive at the barrier and Ness peeks over it. "Dr. Andonuts?"

Said person rises from the crowd. "Ness!" He looks surprised, and then turns to me, "Lucas!"

I catch a glimpse of a person coming from my left. He leans closer and says, "Ness?"

"Why, hello, I–Watch out!" Ness yells, pushes the young man aside and throws both hands forward. A rain of fire envelops a horseantula, leaving it out of combat.

The young man whistles, raising an eyebrow. "That was crazy!" I'm sure I've seen him before. He has blond, messy hair, blue eyes and a confident look. He sports blue clothing that is held by a leather belt; a yellow cape dangles from his back, rather heroically. He has a red chestplate, and he wields a great sword in his hands protected by leather gauntlet. Yes, an Assistant.

"Wow, Isaac, how much has this been going on? Oh, and this is Lucas," Ness says.

"Hey, Lucas. The whole day pretty much. You came to help?"

"We were searching for," Ness nods at Andonuts. "Dr. Andonuts. We need him in the mansion."

"Really? Well, I hope you will teleport back."

"I can't. Long story." The arm throbs almost in cue to Ness words. He's referring to my arm. It's my fault we will have to endanger Dr. Andonuts…

"Too bad… Hmmm, I know! Vine, Ground!" And just as he spoke, two more creatures like the one over the barrier appeared in his shoulders. "Make sure they get out of here safely." Both creatures disappear and reappear in Ness' shoulders.

"Thanks, Isaac, stay safe," He slightly bows.

"You too, guys."

We are about to leave the place, but Dr. Andonuts, with a tone that suggested he was in a tea party, said, "Can you borrow me one of your Djinns some day? I would love to–" and Ness jerks the Dr.'s arm to hurry.

This time around, it seems Dr. Andonuts is a chimera attractor. Two kangasharks–which as the name suggests is a half-kangaroo, half-shark chimera–come leaping at a terrifying speed. Neither Ness nor I have to move, though. One of the Djinn's eyes glowand, a second later, vines emerge from the ground instantly halting one of the beasts. And then the other Djinn follows, launching three spheres of light at the chimera. These spheres trap the kangashark and lift him into the air, freezing it there.

I nearly dive to cross the doorway to the empty room and get a moment of calm at last.

"Thank Vine. Thanks Ground. I owe you one, but you should return to Isaac–he will need you more."

"See you later, Ness!" A funny voice echoes in my head. Were the Djinns talking to Ness?

He gives a smile to the Djinns and they disappear.

"You did this, boys?" Andonuts looked about the room littered with dead chimeras.

"Do not say that, Doc," Ness said. "It's a mystery to us as well."

Then he puts a hand on his headset, "Link, Lucario, we have found the Dr. Don't come here, we'll rendezvous at the mansion."

"_Alright."_

"_Okay, Ness."_

I stop in my next step, for the sound of a foreign pace enters in my ears. At the side of the fountain I look to the left. "Ness…" My words come out shakily.

The dragon or turtle thing that accompanied Mario and Wario when Mario set my room on fire enters the room.

"Dr., stay behind," Ness says. "Bowser, what a surprise to see around here."

Bowser stays silent and more steps echo from the right. Mario walks into the room.

"I told you they would come for the scientist," Bowser's hoarsevoice says.

"Ness, please step aside," as he speaks, I note that classic faint tone of anger in Mario whenever I'm in the same room with him. "That goes to you too, Dr. Andonuts."

Ness walks around the fountain to lock stares with Mario, while I look carefully at Bowser with Andonuts beside me.

"Why? What you want with Luke, Mario?" Ness asks.

"I heard the reason Pokey has invaded us was because you and Lucas were here and he soughtrevenge…" Mario shakes his head in disagreement with the false theory. "But I wondered why Pokey had not attacked before. You've been here for years and by pure chance some time after Lucas arrives he decides to invade us suddenly. I know you know what the real reason is, Ness. I have known you for enough time to read you. So, not only I consider Lucas a threat for the organization but if we hand him over to Pokey, it's obvious he will leave us alone."

"Pokey is… you have never faced him. You could never understand what he is capable of. And this is the only opportunity we have to finally stop him. Master Hand ordered _us _to bring back Dr. Andonuts soon. He will help us finding Pokey."

"I have as much knowledge as Master Hand to know what the best for everyone is. Don't make me take Lucas by force."

"Really?" I speak for the first time which makes Mario stand straighter. "Then you would see taking out the source of this problem is the best."

"Shut your mouth, Lucas." He addresses Ness. "I don't want to fight you, Ness; we have been friends for a long time and you are throwing away all of that for a traitor."

I hate to admit it, but Mario's point is, to a certain extent, valid; in the last three years I searchedfor a way to save my brother, and I would've never trusted in some random person that told me he had the solution to our problem.

"The fact that not only he is a good person and Pokey has, unfortunately he, connected us since a long time ago gives me the opportunity to trust in Luke completely. You are my friend, Mario, never think otherwise but this time Lucas needs us."

"Then it's settled."Mario stomps the ground.

Keeping an eye on both, Mario and Bowser, I see the latter one taking out a pair ofstrange sort of gauntlets. It fits right on his claws, adds two small spikes on top of his hands besides extending and encasing them in a crystal-like material–very similar to the one in my cell.

Mario, following Bowser, unsheathes a short sword; a fine, elegant crystal blade. "Last chance," Mario says. In response, Ness adopts a fighting stance, both hands raised and giving off a powerful energy.

I attempt to copy Ness, but I can only do so much with a barely moving arm. I don't know who could break my bones easier in this situation, Bowser or Mario. Either way I am facing Bowser.

"I want him alive, Bowser!" Mario says.

"I hope, for your own sake, that's not an order, Mario!" Bowser roars back. The room goes silent for a second just before Bowser charges towards me.

"PK Freeze!" With my functional hand I attack Bowser with a powerful, icy wind. In the middle of the run, however, he shakes off the PSI and lounges. I sidestep and stomp the ground forcefully. A rock spike erupts from the floor… centimeters from him. If only I had had more time to practice that PSI.

It's a good signal Bowser is interested in me and not in Andonuts but at the same time he looks angry. He creates a fist with a hand that rivals the size of my head, and throws a punch. I have no more option than to create a shield. But when Bowser's fist gets closer my shield vanishes in thin air. I throw myself backwards, praying he doesn't get me. He does, barely striking me in the stomach. The strength in the punch is enough to toss me towards a group of tables.

He gives a couple of strides forward when the sound of some kind of beam resonates in the area. Bowser collapses like a giant tree face-first in front of me. Behind the fallen Bowser, Dr. Andonuts stands with a ray gun leveled**. **

Swiftly I rise to my feet and take out the thunder sword. I know I may look odd with one arm dangling and the other wielding the sword but I've got no other option.

That crystal gauntlets Bowser's wearing is definitely the same material the crystal I had on my cell. Ness and I have been disabled. Damn.

As I am about to slash Bowser's head, he hides in his shell and starts spinning about. I back up, hoping Dr. Andonuts backed up as well.

In a single movement, Bowser comes out of the shell and is ready to attack again. I have a small window of time to warn Ness about their weapons. "Ness! Mario's sword is made out of that crystal that inhibits PSI."

I hear not a verbal response but a mental one. "Then be careful. They won't let us out of here, so I'm thinking in some escape plan."

I return my attention to Bowser just in time… He steps forward an opens his mouth widely. He begins breathing fire like a dragon. I jump desperately over tables and chairs to escape from the hell coming from his mouth.

When I am out of his range, I decide to use the sword. I raise it and bring it down, aiming at Bowser. Three thunders come to life and race towards him. Oddly enough he leaps forward and withdraws into his shell, receive the thunders and come out again–that whole motion in mid-air.

He crushes a few chairs in his landing, skids and bounds forward. I see him closing in, and try to stop him with the sword but he is faster. A punch to my stomach snatches the air out of me; I am smashed against some furniture near a corner of the room.

The effect of those gauntlets feels as if a lock had been set upon my PSI and with each second is harder and harder to get over it.

I catch a glimpse of the fight between Ness and Mario. Ness is really struggling and I can see why. With no PSI we are left with few options. He holds his PSI-enveloped bat in front of him. Obviously, though, the bat is no rival to Mario's sword.

Mario slashes, and Ness, smartly, backs up. It seems he has saved himself but no; the PSI enveloping the bat vanishes. Then Ness swings in a lightning-fast motion; Mario barely reacts in time and the only victim is his hat.

After that last move, it looks like Ness has a trick up his sleeve. He takes out a yo-yo (which is similar to the one that Porky once had). He swings the yo-yo circularly, threatening Mario with each motion. Ness quickly strikes once, then twice. Mario stays dazed for an instant and gives Ness a perfect opportunity. He holds his bat two-handed and unleashes his PSI into the bat. In a mighty swing, Mario is hurled near a doorway with a pinging sound.

Just as Ness is about to turn someone appears behind him. "Ness!" The air is gone from my lungs along with that cry.

Ness reacts too late.

Bowser towers over Ness like a monster as he grabs Ness by his neck. It's quite visible how the vivid PSI energy of Ness goes away when he is taken by Bowser's gauntlet.

As I try to stand up, I spot Dr. Andonuts approaching from behind Bowser. His gun points at Bowser's back; but before he can shoot, a fireball hits Andonuts in square in the chest.

Mario is back in his feet and walking over to Ness and Bowser. "Mario… Leave him alone…" I give two steps forward and I stumble over the tables and chairs, kissing the floor once again.

Mario doesn't even mind my words; he searches in his pocket and reveals a small crystal in his hand. He crushes the small crystal with both hands. Mario grabs Ness by his ankles and says in a low voice. "I won't use all my strength, so take it as a gift for being an old friend that has made a mistake."

Bowser let go Ness, who is still fighting to free from Mario's grasp. Mario doesn't mind Ness shaking and flailing like a fish out of the water. Mario spins twice and throws Ness across the room–colliding with a part of the fountain, flipping tables over and finally he lands roughly near the middle.

Satisfied with their actions, Mario and Bowser walk towards me. "You… PK Thunder!" I thrust the thunder sword forward. A thunder goes in Mario's direction in the blink of an eye. Mario reaches out with one hand and the thunder dispels in an instant.

"It's your turn, Lucas," he tells me. "I would like to personally get rid of you after all you've done; you've killed and you've been the reason why countless amounts of people have died so far…"

His words pierce me to the core. I know that already! I brought Porky here and I haven't done anything good since I arrived, but this is all for the greater good! Because of me, Luigi died and I almost killed Ness too… and all those people he protected. I know that but I'm sorry. I just want everything to be as it was before. Before Porky arrived and took away my life.

It's all for the greater good. I know that. It must be.

"However, as you heard before, I will hand you over to Pokey. You will both leave us alone and we'll start rebuilding. Ness will forget you and will acknowledge he was wrong when he trusted in you. Unfortunately…" He gets closer and punches me in the stomach. I lose all will to move; and my view of Mario and Bowser turns blurry. "That won't bring back my brother."

"For now we will make sure you won't be of any harm for anybody around." Mario unsheathes his sword again and Bowser checks his gauntlets.

Like a rag doll, Bowser picks me up from the neck. I struggle and shake but my body is done.

With every second–that seems like hours–I feel my PSI slipping away from me. Mario raises his sword; his eyes reflect my suffering transforming into a much needed revenge.

And, when about to give up hope, I see someone is still standing in the middle of the room. Ness.

His body is burning with PSI like I've never seen before. His cheerful look is replaced by one of power and anger. That person standing there could be confused for anyone but Ness.

He extends both arms, palms pointing at this direction. Even from here I see the strain that is put on his fingers, slightly bent. He pulls back one arm, then another; instantly Bowser and Mario are dragged away from me with a mighty force. I fall to my knees, and force my eyes to stay open in the next moments.

The veins in Mario's neck are protruding slightly while he attempts to turn his head. But not an inch his head moves. Mario shakes and with a broken voice he cries, "Ness? S-Stop!"

"I will rip your head off if you don't let me go _now!" _Bowser's roar resonates in the room.

Even after that, Ness doesn't seem to heed any word that is directed to him. His full attention is on his victims.

At last, after a few seconds, Ness thrusts an arm to the right. Bowser mirrors the motion and is hurled, at an impossible speed for my eyes to follow, into a wall; he goes through it and the sound of his collision compares to the one of an explosion.

And Mario is next. Ness thrusts his left hand downward. Mario follows the movement and is viciously crashed against the floor. Though probably harmed Mario tries to move, but he stays still as if he was frozen. Ness' hand is still pointing at Mario. His fingers twitch in such a manner that makes me wonder if Ness will be alright after this.

Mario has started to bleed. The only control he has left he uses it to glare at Ness. "Don't d-dare to c-continue…" Each single word is stressed by Mario's anger and his difficulty to speak.

At this point, Dr. Andonuts, probably scared of Ness as much as I am, stands behind Ness, trembling awkwardly.

Ness' mouth trembles and his eyes twitch. He must be losing power. He shakes his head in denial of the situation and says, "PK… Rockin'." A multicolored energy forms in his right hand. It shines bright and preciously for a second… and the next one is gone. Ness' trembling is now on the arm holding Mario… He will not last much more.

"Good boy… Good boy," Mario says, slowly recovering the control of his body. His voice came out with some resemblance to Porky's.

I'm finally able to muster strength and stand up. I shamble towards Ness, rocking left and right with each step and being careful to not trip over something. "Ness…"

Ness eyes widen. His hand go down with each second, at the same time Mario gets more and more power of his body back. Ness' voice contacts me telepathically. He sounds faltered. "Dr., Lucas, come closer, we are leaving…"

I hurry my body and move as fast as possible. Dr. Andonuts moves a step closer to Ness, who's PSI is now a perishing light.

At last, Ness can't hold Mario anymore, and the latter is dropped to the floor, now with full control of himself.

"Dr., take Lucas hand!" Ness says, clearly bewildered. Ness runs past me and Dr. Andonuts takes my hand with a jerk that almost knocks me down.

Ness has a hand in his forehead as we run… somewhere. The cold will destroy my nerves if we enter in that dimension again… Please… Not again. Will I end up like Claus and lose my arm?

Behind us, Mario breaks into a run, charging at full speed and hands literally ablaze.

"Sorry, Luke…" Talking, fighting and focusing on teleporting have made Ness reach his limits. I can sense that in his voice and how he moves. "Please, hold onto us, and endure the pain." Those are his last words at me before I see which direction we are going–into a wall.

"I will try! But, the wall! We are going to cras–" The portal opened at the last second. I haven't been seconds in here and the cold is already piercing my body, rendering the pain unbearable. I squeeze Andonuts' hand and hope I don't get lost in here. My eyes plea me to close them and forget the pain; I grant that wish and black out.

* * *

><p><strong>So many introductions and character descriptions... Though it was nice to write a bit about the characters I hope appear in the next Smash, Isaac and Travis. See you in the next chapter!<strong>


	12. Eye of the Storm

**Escaping from Dimension Central, Lucas goes back to the Mansion to plan the next move.**

* * *

><p>Piercing sunlight forces its way through my eyelids; I come back to my senses when the portal closes, expelling us into the beautiful garden in the center of the mansion. Ness, as the first one to touch land, rolls uncontrollably until he crashes with a pillar; Andonuts rolls once and ends up face up in the ground, with a hand grasping his smoking chest. I'm practically shoved towards the ground by the momentum we carried. I try to put my hands in front of me, but one of my arms barely responds, while the other doesn't protect me at all. My arm twists beyond its limits, so I hit the ground face-first. A loud ring fills my ears just before I black out again.<p>

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The strength comes back to me and my eyes flutter open. While my sight turns clear, I feel motion beneath me. I'm not moving though. And then I realize I'm lying in a stretcher, carried by no other than Lucario (I get a glimpse of who's holding the front part of the stretcher: an Alloy). Lucario shows a strong grip in the stretcher as his eyes focus in the path. Glancing down at me, he notices I have recovered consciousness.

"Lucas," he says, "We are heading to the medical center. Your arm needs attention."

I manage to raise my head to look at both sides. I stay like that for a second before I slump back down. "Dr. Andonuts, Ness… Where are they?"

"Both of them are with Link. Don't worry, now focus on yourself."

Lucario concludes and an odd calmness comes with that. The motion of the stretcher is soothing, and just by ear I realize the mansion is in a state never seen before. Total silence. No yells of angry people, no cheers towards any Smasher fighting, no announces from Master Hand. Compared to what I experienced at Dimension Central, this is a huge change. The only real sounds come from the Alloy's feet, the clang that accompanies each step.

All this makes my eyes heavy.

"Lucas… Lucas?" Lucario asks. With that I'm pulled into another dream.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

There's a new sight when I awaken this time around. White walls surround me, soft blankets keep me warm. I raise my arm to confirm it is still there. I heave a sigh when I see it is there, carefully bandaged. Though it feels numb, the pain is mostly gone. Thanks.

I push away the blanket to receive some air on my legs. It's very nice in here. I never thought I was going to get some time to rest. This day has been chaotic.

I put down a foot in the cold floor, at the same time a chill wraps my bare torso, when a voice sounds in my head. "Rested well?" I suppress a yelp, but that didn't prevent me from almost tripping with something in the floor.

I take a deep breath and wait for my heart to calm down. "Lucario… You sca– I didn't see you."

"I decided to stay until you awoke. I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

I look at him, sitting in the floor, eyes closed. He stands up to point me with his paw at the far side of the room near a bureau. "Your footwear and shirt, in case you wondered."

"Thanks… You took off my shirt?"

"Don't get too excited, the Alloys did it in order to work in your arm."

I nod before picking up the shoes and my shirt to put them on. I need to see Ness and Andonuts soon. The last thing I remember is the Doc with that burn in his chest and Ness' tired and desperate look. I can only hope Andonuts is well enough to be of use for us. "Ah, Lucario…"

"Ness? Dr. Andonuts? According to Link they are in this same corridor. I will take you."

"How did you…?" I didn't know he had some sort of sixth sense; or can he read minds?

"Aura has a vast variety of uses, Lucas, but in this case your expression made it obvious. Come on."

I exit the room trailing behind Lucario. We walk down the ghostly corridor. There's plenty of light, but it's so silent. If I didn't know this place take for granted I would be on my guard.

"Surely Ness and the Doctor shared rooms," Lucario tells me, while he inspects the number of each room we pass by. "Here."

Lucario opens a door, but to our surprise there's no more than a lonely Alloy cleaning inside.

"Was Ness and Dr. Andonuts here?" Lucario asks the Alloy.

"Smasher Ness and Dr. Andonuts left one hour and a half ago," the Alloy responds. Then my eyes widen. One and a half hour? How much time I slept? Oh, those precious minutes wasted.

"Thanks," Lucario says. He turns around and signals me to exit the room.

"Lucario?" I want to start a question.

"Wait a moment, Lucas." He closes his eyes for a couple of seconds. When he opens them again, a small smile appears in his face. "I should've done that before. I know where they are."

"Ah, Lucario, do you know what happened to my arm? What did you do?" I had to ask him. An odd tickling had started to bother a minute ago and I wanted further details.

"That. You've been applied a special treatment for burns. You can't imagine how much times in a month burn wounds are treated. It acts quite fast, personal experience, but it still requires a couple of hours. Leave that bandage on for now; you will be able to use that arm almost perfectly then. However, once we have spare time, you should have a better inspection of that wound."

"I was worried about that. Though, it seems okay for now." Of course, Lucario said he know where the others are, "So, where is Ness and Andonuts?"

"Link and Dr. Andonuts are in Master Hand's office, while Ness is in the back of the mansion."

Ness is what? Wasn't he hurt? Apparently everyone but me heals amazingly fast. At least Dr. Andonuts is already with MH. The faster he finds out a way to get us to Porky the better. "So I suppose we are going with the hand first."

"Exactly."

I find the long distance we have to walk a bit painful, but manage to complete it with a couple of grunts and questions of Lucario if I'm okay. We arrive outside of Master Hand's office when I hear a voice coming from Lucario's headset. "Hey, Lucario, has Lucas waked up?"

As a response, Lucario and I push the doors open. "Yeah, Link," I say.

I glance around to see that, indeed Dr. Andonuts is here. He's sitting in front of Master Hand's desk, with the latter one floating besides the Dr.

"Well, that is rather convenient," Master Hand mutters.

"Did you need us?" Lucario asks.

"Yes. Dr. Andonuts has explained Master and me his plan to teleport us where he thinks Porky may be."

"Interesting. And what does that plan could be, Doctor?"

"I still retain the coordinates in here," he taps his head twice. "I will check where they will exactly take you. It needs to be an open area, far from any danger."

"Danger?" I ask after noting the emphasis he puts on the word.

"Exactly, Lucas. As I said before, this place is where the chimera project started. Where we tested them, and where Claus was… trained, so to speak." The Dr. makes a brief pause, "And thus there may be hundreds of chimeras still living there–probably eating each other in this exact moment. I can't remember everything about it, though, the time I spent there has been left in oblivion. It's a very sad and dark planet. Porky altered the planet so life could survive there; not that he cared but he needed it."

"It will be a lot more dangerous than I first thought," Master Hand says, "Now, without a doubt Ness, Link and Lucario will go with you. Getting rid of Porky is our last option, and I'm not going to risk that chance."

Lucario clears his throat, "Is there anything else we need to know."

"The plan is pretty much to go there, locate Porky and make him stop by any means. Details about the planet will be given later when the Dr. has the coordinates ready. In the meantime, I order you to gather any stuff you need. Use this time to heal that arm, Lucas. I will call you once we're ready. You are dismissed, Smashers." A snap from Master Hand opens the door broadly.

We walk out of the room–Link joins us.

"Does Ness know about the plan?" Lucario asks.

"Just what's important," Link replies, "Since he woke up he seems low spirited." He lowers his gaze to the ground.

"I can't blame him. His mind has been freed from fighting, so he has time to think about what's happened on his surroundings."

I tilt my head. What are they talking about? "What you mean?"

Link gulps loudly, as if there was a knot in his throat and he doesn't want to speak. "Luigi… Marth… many others."

I instantly understand what he refers to. "Oh…" And there it is again: that guilt building up on me. It makes me want to lay down on the floor and forget it all. Right here.

A strong paw grabs my shoulder. I look up to meet Lucario's penetrating eyes. "You know it has nothing to do with you." An almost imperceptible smile in his face reassures me. "We ought to go with Ness. I know where he is."

But before we change direction, Link says, "I… I have to get some stuff. Uh, where is Ness? I'll see you there."

"In the back of the mansion, atop a hill, sitting. Any more details?" Another rare smile comes from Lucario. He seems the least affected by the tragedies, or maybe he just wants to cheer Link up.

"Thanks," Link pauses due to a long breath, "I will see you there."

As we trek through the enormous mansion towards the "backyard" I take the chance to ask Lucario about how he felt. I struggled to find the right words, for I didn't want to say he didn't care. I was curious to listen to his answer and know if he was okay.

He gave me an honest answer. He said that in the inside, his heart was broken, the grief was overwhelming and his spirit was crushed. But reminding himself how he felt would've changed nothing. He had to suppress those feelings and give off a good vibe. At the end he said he was glad no-one could see his aura because, otherwise, we all would've witnessed the dull gray that surrounded him.

When he finished I had to ask, "Then, if you didn't want the others to know how you felt, why you did tell me?"

Lucario puffed through his nose with a hint of humor, "You asked… And, I think you are able to understand better in some way."

Our talk finishes when we arrive to our destination.

The entrance (or exit in this case) of this area is similar to the front door of the mansion. Lucario pushes the door, and the glare of the sun greets me. When my eyes adapt again, I see the mansion is only one half of this organization.

A _huge_ field extends upon my view. Perfect for those who like to run, walk, have a picnic… whatever! To one side, small hills decorate the view; all with perfect lush grass blanketing it. The gentle wind blowing brushes the grass dragging my view into another section. A lake in the distance connected with a beautiful cascade. Then, even farther a forest probably as vivid as the Sunshine Forest back in home.

Lucario snaps me out of my astonishment saying, "Ness is nearby, we ought to go with him. He is quite downhearted. His aura makes it very clear. We have to treat him gently."

"Sure."

"There," Lucario points at a small hill. Atop it Ness is seated with his legs stretched in front of him; both, his bat and hat idly rest besides him. The wind brushes the grass around him and although the breeze is nice it just seems to bother Ness. He stays unmoving, unaffected by his surroundings, solely looking to the field that seems to span infinitely.

We start to climb the hill at the same time my mind is stormed with thoughts. Again, all of this has been caused by me. I could've stayed at my home, accepted my fate, and this wouldn't have happened. Could that be what he's thinking? Should I say sorry? I didn't say sorry to Lucario or Link… or Luigi or Marth… Hell! Even Mario.

Thankfully, I don't have to speak first; Lucario says, "Hey Ness. Have you heard about Dr. Andonuts plan of action?"

We hardly made any noise while approaching Ness, and still he doesn't react to our sudden presence. "He's going to send us to that planet Pokey took Andonuts once, but the Dr. has to confirm his coordinates first."

"Pretty much," Lucario says as we stand behind Ness. "Master Hand also told us to get ready for when we depart. We are going to unknown lands that could be infested in chimeras; we should prepare."

"Then go and prepare yourself," Ness replies instantly. His voice stays in a neutral, low volume and yet I can feel that vibe of his words: leave me alone, it says.

"We came to tell you about that Ness. You should grab any thing that you may need while we are out there," I tell him, almost begging to abandon his indifference.

And he turns his head around. His look bashes in my guilt; his eyes are red, his hair disheveled, his collar completely ripped and his neck has four red marks in one side, while a single redder one in the opposite. Bowser's claw. Ness' appearance screams lament and regret and hate. I have lived as a servant of that for many years. Seeing another person like that destroys me.

After staring at us for _long _seconds, Ness says, "I have," he raises his left arm. Three golden medals hang from his grasp–veins bulge out. With the medals shining against the sun I can make out a symbol in each medal. One mushroom in two medals and a sword in the other. What could that mean?

The medals reflect in Lucario's eyes before he looks away. "Each one of the Smashers has a symbol that represents them: Luigi and Wario's is a mushroom. Marth's is a sword," I hear Lucario's voice in my head.

They are all dead.

"I need not more than this," Ness says and turns back to look at the field.

"Ness," Lucario places a paw in Ness' shoulder, "Come with us. I know that, at least, you could some of those PSI stones."

"We will gather with Master Hand and Andonuts as well. You may want to listen to any thing they have to say," I say.

Ness turns back to us. He sighs and says, "Let's go." Taking a second to clean his nose with his arm, he picks up his bat and his hat.

"Good…" Lucario says. He approaches Ness glaring into his eyes, "Now, tell me why the hell you haven't go to get those wounds checked?"

"I will, I just needed some air beforehand."

"I have to go to my room. Packing a bunch of berries would be a good idea," Lucario says and almost instantly disappears.

"Ah, Lucario, always showing off his speed in a subtle manner," Ness says. "Hey, wanna come with me, there's something I want to show you."

"Sure."

"By the way… Sorry for being like this, but all that's happened exceeds my limits. I really liked Luigi and Marth… Wario too."

"I'm the one who should be sorry–everything's my fault." Ness opens his mouth to respond but I continue, "However," I force a small smile, and hopefully spread it to Ness. "Remember what I told you about the Needles? Well, when we get rid of Porky, I will pull those Needles. The Dark Dragon will be released then and hopefully… hopefully just as I plan the Dragon to restore my world it will restore all harm Porky has done to us."

Ness's eyes opened wide as if he needed them to hear clearer, "Apparently, you forgot to tell me a few unimportant details."

"I don't want to get anyone's hopes up."

I barely convinced Ness to get his wounds checked after entering back into the mansion. It was not more than fifteen minutes we spent in the medical center before we were going to our room. Ness told me the thunder sword was there, so that nagging thought about me losing the sword disappeared soon.

A few seconds into our room, Ness speaks up, "It's such a shame you never got to experience this beauty."

I ignore my business to see what he's referring to. And there he stands, rubbing the huge television a little too affectionately.

I shrug, "Who knows? Maybe I will sometime."

I pick up the thunder sword's grip. I sigh dropping it inside my pocket.

"This is what I wanted to show you and give you," Ness says. Suddenly I detect I gray blur flying towards me; I cover my face, only to see that it has stopped mid-air. Ness "holds" it from the other side of the room using PSI.

The object falls quietly in front of me. I pick it up, and inspect every inch of its uneven surface. It's a simple rock… with a tremendous power emanating from it.

Probably noticing my clueless expression, Ness explains, "That's a PSI stone. Perhaps you wondered how I could get a hold on Mario and Bowser at the same time in DC. How I suddenly got that much energy."

"Yes…" I don't take my eyes off the stone. Its power it's quite mesmerizing, "I was thinking about that."

"Well, this little miracle gave me that PSI boost. If you focus on it, you can absorb the energy within it. You may think is not _that _useful, but trust me, just like it happened in the Central, it has saved my life countless times."

"So that was why you suddenly… exploded."

He chuckles, "I think so. Besides that, you can boost your PSI to use telepathy like Lucario, or remember almost anything with perfect memory; next-to-instantaneous teleportation; motion sensitivity… Even mind control! I remember taking over a poor mole by accident. So yeah, it's like those products on TV that supposedly have a thousand uses, but that's bull; actually these little things have more uses! Okay… the PSI stone doesn't do all of that. It helps you to do it."

I don't understand the last part of Ness' explanation, but that doesn't matter. Now, in fact, I look down at the PSI stone. Really, I can do all that stuff with PSI?

Every minute we spent supplying ourselves with the stone Ness never lost hold of the medals. It destroyed me in the inside to see the consequences of this invasion. I didn't ask if he was going to take the medals because it was obvious after he strapped them around the handle of his bat. As the bat followed Ness' movements, the medals glinted with the last rays of natural light.

Forty minutes after that we begin our way back to Master Hand's office. He hasn't announced anything, but probably Dr. Andonuts is almost ready, and I want to hear from the Dr.'s own mouth how is the place we are going to.

In the middle of the mansion, Lucario joins us. I see he did prepare, for now he's a small, blue pouch hanging from his shoulder. He asked Ness if he had his wounds checked, or if he just changed his clothes (while we were in our room, Ness changed his old shirt with a fresh one). I responded for Ness saying the true. Lucario is pleased and we continue.

We meet Link outside Master Hand's door. He tells us he was about to call us. MH said they were ready.

The doors before us automatically open, "Come in," Master Hand greets us.

"So, it's all settled?" Ness asks.

Dr. Andonuts has his hands in his back, his look inspired confidence, along with a satisfied smirk. "The coordinates have been confirmed. The teleportation will take you to a "safe" place. I can not tell you, however, how much time you have before a crowd of hungry chimeras flood that area."

"Wow, that makes me a _bit_ uneasy. Just a bit," Ness comments.

Andonuts shook his head, "I can't help that."

"Doctor," Master Hand says, "Please tell them what you told me about Porky's planet. They will need more than simple instructions."

The Doctor proceeded to do as told. All my attention was put into his words.

His theory suggested the planet was home of the chimeras that were teleported here, the Smashers' planet. The lands were mostly barren of life. Only wind and dust blew endlessly in its surface. Around the planet a lonely moon orbited. About this moon, Andonuts knew next to nothing. He had only been there once; it was safe for life to exist but he said we didn't have to worry about that.

Then he talked about the location we were going to be teleported. The spot was outside a city... A city? I asked out loud. Yes, Porky had constructed a city in the planet (if there were any more cities Andonuts did not say anything); and, at the opposite side of the city–if he remembered exactly, the Dr. pointed out–was Porky's stronghold. A place that resembled the chimera laboratory (memories haunted me for a second; I hated every inch of that place where damnation was weighed down on you the moment you stepped in) was surely where Porky was hiding. He wished he could teleport us inside Porky's facility but with him around and the chimeras in the city roaming about in search of nonexistent food, he decided it was wiser to teleport us outside the city.

After that he closes his eyes, stress was visibly put on his eyelids. "I can't remember anymore... Sorry," he said.

He also pointed out his amnesia was Porky's work and he couldn't do anything else.

Dr. Andonuts seems to have finished talking. I need to interrupt now. I need to expose my idea. I only hope they understand going to the Islands first is the best. I want to make sure Claus is, or not, there, everything is okay, and pull at least half the Needles.

I gotta talk now, "I have to say something. Before we go to Porky's planet, I'd like to go to the Nowhere Islands first."

Although he's a hand without a face, Master Hand doesn't seem pleased with the idea, "Why you want to go there suddenly?" he asks with a sigh.

"First, I don't know if you've heard about my brother–"

"I explained Master Hand everything I knew…" Andonuts interrupted, his voice decreasing in volume.

I grimace and nod. "Then, I need to know if Porky took my brother when we had the incident with the teleport; Porky would be able to repeat what did and take control over my brother. Not only that. Moreover, I think it's a good idea to pull at least half the Needles while we are there, that way Porky won't have too much options if he plans anything… And maybe I can see if everything's going well there…"

"I can't deny that sounds like a good course of action," Master Hand begins, "But what about us? How much will this take you?"

"I expect no more than an hour," I say.

Lucario, who had been silent for the most part, says, "Hmmm, but we will have to return here after that, to teleport to the other planet. That will take too much time."

"And can't you adjust the mini-teleport you attach to the invitations for the Newcomers," surprisingly, Ness suggests, "We could use that from the Nowhere Islands, and may be able to spare some time."

"Right," Master Hand slowly responds, "In that case, give me a minute to add the coordinates."

And the minutes passed. It was not a minute, nor more than ten. Still, it was an eternity to sit in one corner, while listening to Ness' bad jokes.

Finally, Master Hand reenters the room, Andonuts at his side. We stand up knowing that was our cue.

"Link," Master Hand extends one of his giant fingers, where a small hexagonal device sits. "This will take you to Porky's planet. Take good care of it, there's no time to make another." He makes a brief pause before handing another device–this one looking like a headset. "When you leave Lucas' homeworld, make sure to keep me updated."

He snaps his fingers and a golden trail unfolds out of the room, "Follow it; it will take you to Lucas' homeworld teleporter." I glance to my companions: Ness, at my right, stands with his head held high; Lucario, at my left, has his eyes closed, but his ears twitch slightly with each of MH's words; and Link, besides Ness, takes one last look of his reflection on his sword before sheathing it.

"Our world relies on you, good luck Smashers."


	13. Stepping on the Needles' ground

**With MH's help, Lucas goes back to the Nowhere Islands to pull Needles. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Having left MH's office, I lead the way down the golden trail as if our lives depended on it. Because they actually do.<p>

The way is not long. Soon enough we arrive to the teleporter.

Lucario halts, drawing my whole attention. What is he doing now? He raises his paw as his eyes close. The protuberances on the back of his hair come to life, hovering in place. He drops his strange stance and opens his eyes again. "It's Mario's aura. And Bowser's. They're inside the mansion. They don't seem happy; they're moving quickly toward Master Hand's office. We got to hurry."

"Just what we needed," Ness mutters.

"Then we get moving," Link said.

I have to be honest, what Lucario said actually sent a shiver down my spine. Mario is going to talk to MH. Who will Master Hand side with? What if they follow us? Yeah, we better get moving.

"C'mon, Luke, you're next," Ness says.

I see what he's referring to. The teleporter is ready. Apparently Lucario had already stepped in; he was nowhere to be seen, and I didn't have that feeling of being observed by his deep, red eyes.

"Sure," I say, wondering where will this take me. Home? It'd be difficult to resist the urge to check on my father and friends. "Do I just enter?"

Link nods. The teleporter was similar to a stand. I followed their directions, breathed in and stepped into the teleporter.

And once again the strange sensation of being teleported washes over me. My limps are probably being torn apart, every inch of my body disappearing into an instant, but infinite, darkness only to reappear with a slight dazedness and a powerful ringing on my ears.

A heat of wave welcomes me back to the Nowhere Island. There's a thick air in the surroundings, rocky ground, cloud-filled sky; I must be nearby Fire Mountain. My home. It's an eternity since I was last here. But I didn't come back alongside Claus. He should be with me enjoying the horrible weather around here.

"Ah, nice place the hand chose to teleport us to," Ness says from behind me.

"He didn't have time for anything better, Ness," Link says, "Besides, there should be a Needle around here, right? MH would've known."

"Exactly." I look around. Now; I see the entrance to the mountain. "We should pull this one and three more at least. After that we can leave. For now we could go inside the mountain. There's one there."

A strange eagerness invades me. Is the power of the Needle's that makes me eager all of a sudden? Of its purity and sense of relief that attracts me?

And there we go. Other than the extreme heat, the path to the Needle was peaceful, a contradiction to last time. My mind was in calm until I was reminded of a person when the pulsing power of the Needle reached me. Phrygia. Was she ever going to know what happened? Hopefully she would know it was me who pulled his–eh…her Needle. And Kumatora. She will be devastated. Just like last time.

It's time. The Needle is on sight.

"Hey," I speak up. "You should stay behind. Take cover maybe. The Needles are beyond powerful and only I can be safe under its release."

No one asks a single question. Exactly. They should trust me. This is my home. There is a pair of big enough rocks for them to take cover behind. "Good luck, Luke!" That's Ness. I don't really need luck. I get it, though; it's simple friendliness. I glance back at him, and nod firmly.

I'm about to come into contact with the Needle. Its power is mesmerizing; it's screaming my name so loud I can't focus on anything else. I had almost forgotten how it felt. I feel reenergized, revitalized; with the strength to do _anything_. I have not even touched the Needle yet.

My fingers graze the tip of the Needle. They move on their own, finally grasping the Needle by its two "wings". The energy emanates all around me. That momentary omnipotence takes over me. For an instant I can see every living thing around me. Probably their aura. But I can only recognize Lucario, Link and Ness in that moment. Their presence is vivid and strong. I can literally see them in great detail. It all feels peaceful and calm; as if I had every second of the world. It's all about me until a voice sounds as clear as an angel's.

"Lucas, oh dear, you're back; I knew you were coming back soon."

It was Phrygia. The Magypsy, guardian of this Needle. "Sorry for doing this all of a sudden, we are in a hurry to catch Porky and I needed to pull some Needles." The words didn't come out of my mouth; I didn't think them either. It came from somewhere deeper.

"I understand, Luky, I will wait patiently your return."

I expected a longer conversation, but no more words were exchanged. I realize the Needle was not in the ground anymore, but in my hands. Phrygia is no longer around us. My being is coming back to the real world with worries and issues, and not peace. The omnipotence feeling, though, stays for a while. I open my eyes only to see the hole where the Needle once rested.

"Whoa!" Ness exclaims from behind.

"Nice one," Link says.

I turn around to face Link and the others approaching me.

"And you have to do this a few more times, right?" Lucario asks. From anybody else, those words would've come out with annoyance, but Lucario's were just mere curiosity.

"Four more Needles to be exact. I expect we can teleport there, Ness, 's okay?"

"In that case, you will have to pass the images of the locations of the Needles; we'll be able to go there faster with my teleportation," Ness says.

I am not looking forward for the extraction of memories. It's strange. It all comes back to my mind, perfectly, every detail, and a second later it all disappears leaving me with a horrible blankness for an instant. Still, I hurry and approach Ness. He greets me with a brief smile and says, "Focus on the locations."

I forgot momentarily and on purpose the last Needle's location; I don't need them knowing that one yet. Instead, I remember the other six beautiful places where the Needles rest.

Once Ness receives the locations, I say, "We can go to Doria, Lydia and Mixolydia's Needles. "

"You have to explain that in detail. Well, then let's do this." As Ness speaks I don't look forward to the teleportation. Will it cause more pain? Hopefully not.

Our first destination is the Snowcap Mountain and Lydia's Needle.I proceed as swiftly as possible. The others take cover while I turn into the most powerful being in the island for just a few moments. I say sorry to Lydia for my actions and reassure her it's for the better good. The Needle vanishes and we continue to teleport to the next Needle:Doria's Needle. By the time we arrive to the fourth one, Mixolydia's, a familiar but unknown energy has built up inside me. I feel kind of unrelenting; I can only imagine how I will feel with the fourth Needle.

And, as expected, after having pulled the Needle, that will and strength to do anything stays with me.

With this done, I can focus on my main goal here. "There's one more Needle I need to check. This time I will ask for a favor from you, though."

"What is it?" Link asks.

"I know Porky is not here, but I really have the need to see if everything's well in my town. Pulling the Needles is the main task, sure, that's why I'm asking if you can go to my town and see how is everything going; in the meantime I will do my stuff and we can rendezvous back in the same place after ten, fifteen minutes."

"There's no case in wasting time. Where shall we go then?"

After teleporting, we reappear not far from Tazmilly. Coincidentally, New Pork City ruins are not far from here. The others will check on my family and friends, while I go to the seventh Needle by myself.

I walk into the seventh Needle location. The cave greets me with no more than silence. The creatures that have managed to survive inside here stay away from me, almost falling off he edges as long as they can keep their distance. Inside here is still the same. Rocky pathways resembling a maze of different options where to go are the only mean to move around; you fall and the abysm shrouded in mist will take over you. There are very few open spaces similar to the one a fought Porky on. There's water dripping from the stalagmites, and the same gloomy atmosphere fills the place. The cave is a little dark, but is considerably easy to see due to the strange lighting that comes from the abysm. The only difference is the last time I was here my friends Duster, Kumatora and Boney were at my side, protecting me, supporting me. Now, however, I'm alone.

The Needle is on sight and I hurry my pace.

"You," I say talking to nobody but to the Needle. This Needle will be pulled by Claus. One of the most important places in this island is this one. Where it all finishes. Where our fate is going to be decided for the second time. I wanted; I just wanted to make sure it's okay. Today marks four exact years since this all was supposed to end. We were supposed to be living as a family again; at least in a parallel universe. "Soon, brother."

I turn around. It's time to go.

On my way out, the silence is disrupted by the echo of something entering the cave. I'm no expert recognizing sounds but the noises are footsteps. However, I doubt, for some reason, they are my group's. In fact, the footsteps resemble those of a Drago. A Drago around here? This will get problematic.

I advance cautiously. The path is very straightforward and whatever just entered the cave will clearly see me.

Wait…

I see. I see them now.

"Apparently the little bastard was telling the truth," the deep, hoarse voice of Bowser resonates all around the cave. No one says a word for a moment.

"You weren't going to escape like nothing happened." Mario has killer eyes on him.

"Why are you so damn stubborn? I'm pursuing that 'little bastard' so your world can have peace! So we can all have some peace… Master Hand told us to go after Pokey. After that I will return here, you will return to your stuff and once I pull the seven Needles found on this island everything will be back to normal. That said, you ought to get out of my way and let me continue my business."

"You've killed my brother, probably Wario, too, and even doomed the existence of our world. Do you really want to ignore any of that?" Mario says. "This is why I'm a Smasher. We will finish you, and then finish Pokey. It's simple."

They are not backing down. I gotta admit I would appreciate Ness, Link and Lucario's presence right now.

Mario and Bowser slowly move out of the shadows casted by a huge rock. There's a brilliance on their hands and heads. It's that annoying PSI armor. They may have that but with the Needles I have the power of the Nowhere Islands in my hands.

Mario whispers something to Bowser; he nods. Mario steps forward and with a flick of his fingers his hands light up on fire. He punches the air, releasing a barrage of fireballs. The inferno advances like atidalwave. My instinct makes me stomp on the ground; a stone wall–made of the tough materials this cave possesses–raises from the ground protecting me from the fire but not from the extreme heat. For a moment I'm blinded by the wall. I try to force myself to peek out and see where Mario is but my legs won't move.

I stay completely silent until the noise of someone puffing cuts through the air. I roll away from the stone wall just as it explodes in a thousand bits. Mario looks down at me with burning hatred. Who will be faster? He throws himself forward landing on the spot I was a second ago. A crate is the scar of his attack.

I spring to my feet. I thrust my hand forward; air goes crazy around me as I cast a wave of PSI. Even with Mario at a close distance, he covers himself with both arms, which are protected by the special armor.

I create more distance between us. I take out the thunder sword and turn in on with an electrifying sound. I feel the Needle's power running through me… Focus that into the sword… "PK Thunder!" I only manage to shoot one thunder. It whistles past Mario, a little to the left. As a reward, Mario gets distracted by the mortal electricity.

I put my attention on creating two rock walls at each side of Mario. With an amazing amount of energy I command both walls to close on each other. Mario will get crushed.

Mario thrusts out his fists at both sides, and, with no more than a few scratches, the walls are destroyed.

He breaks into a run. Panicking, I put up the sword to attempt to impale him. But I fail. He sidesteps the attack. I had leaned forward with the sword in the front, so I was exposed. My instinct tells me to move; I throw myself to dodge whatever Mario will do. He's too fast, though. With the corner of my eye I see a white blur coming towards me. I almost evaded it. His fist connects with my right arm and the raw force makes me spin and then fall to the ground violently.

"PK Freeze!" My voice breaks with the command.

A tough ice encases Mario in an instant, rendering him powerless for some precious seconds. I unconsciously grin before raising the thunder sword above my head. I slash the ice from top to bottom, aiming for his head, and at the same time I shout, "PK Thunder!"

The ice breaks under my sword. Mario reacts faster than I can expect. He puts up both of his hands in the sword's path but that won't help him.

As the sword connects with his fingers in a mess of blood, the thunder goes through him (with less power due to the armor, though). His expression screams pain and suffering. I push harder trying to go through his arms but it's impossible. The thunder causes a small explosion; Mario hits the ground with the sound of something shattering.

The opportunity to finish this is before me. I'm about to run when something stops me with a jerk.

A claw all but crushes my left arm slowly. The sword falls with a buzz, and I'm left in a struggle with the strongest Smasher I've fought.

I stomp on the ground as a last resort. A rumble from the ground warns Bowser, and he lets go in the instant a spike bursts from the ground. I remember I have a couple of PSI stones in my pocket. In a single movement, I take one out and squeeze it. It's true, its power is incredible. It flows through me as naturally as blood. I feel the pressure, the necessity to let out the acquired power.

I pick up the thunder sword and swing it; all that energy now stored in the sword, begging to come out, "PK Thunder!"

Bowser seems ready for my attack. He withdraws into his shell, which is also coated in PSI armor. The direction of the thunder slightly tilts to one side; still, it hits creating the noise of an explosion. The thunder goes clean through a part of his shell. Once the smoke clears, it reveals Bowser laying face-down, a section of his shell is gone, raw in its place.

As great as that attack was, it has left me tired. My feet demand rest; at least to sit down.

"Argh!" A voice, in despair, yells from behind. I spin around only to get nailed down to the groundby Mario's fist. My left cheek burns right now, and my ears register all but a ringing.

I have to be careful, Mario knows pretty well he can fling me off the cliff; unless, of course he wants to finish me off personally.

Mario moves like a lighting and grabs me by the ankles. He pulls back and throws me across the cave, like a mere toy. A rock stops my momentum in an instant. I fall face-first, not having the energy to put my hands in the way.

"There!" A familiar voice says. Though I'm still dazed, I can recognize it. Link's.

_You idiot! What are you doing here by yourself? _Lucario's mental message surprises me. I do feel guilty now that I've heard him angry. He trots towards me, each step stomping the ground below, proof of his crouches beside me.

"They came out of nowhere…" I huff with each word said.

"I can't believe this. They followed us all the way here?" Ness says.

"Apparently, they somehow communicated with Porky, and he told them."

Ness' only answer was an expression that told me more than words.

In the other side I notice Mario and Bowser each with what looks like a poke ball in their hands.

"Now they've got pokemontoo; great," Links says.

"The pokemon are probably under Mario's orders and not with them because they want," Lucario says.

They throw the poke balls to the ground; a white light appears marking the outline of the pokemon. First, from Mario's poke ball, a lion-like creature with blue fur appears. And from Bowser's a huge creature standing on two legs,cladding what appears to be a type of iron armor.

"Luxray and Aggron?" Ness sounds surprised, "First, they attack us and now they use Pokemon against us."

"Well, then it's three versus four–" Link says but I interrupt him.

"Are you counting yourself out?" I stand up supporting a hand on my knee, "Because I'm not out yet."

"Excellent. In that case: Lucario, you will go after Aggron since you have an advantage; Ness, Luxray is yours; Lucas and I will take on Mario and Bowser."

The pokemon start moving. They lead the enemy group; and, in response, Lucario and Ness lead ours.

The lion pokemon named Luxray shots a thunder, for which Ness activates the PSI Magnet. The thunder vanishes and opens a window of opportunity for the duo.

"Come on," Link tells me.

As we run, Link throws a boomerang high in the air. The boomerang travels with a small tornado around it; it destroys a stalagmite and carries it inside the tornado, which then redirects towards Mario and Bowser.

Bowser steps forward and destroys the stalagmite with a clean punch. Right after that he winces. The wound in his shell will slow him down… Good.

"Now you, Link?" Mario asked. "Perhaps this kid has corrupted all of you so easily? You're a good Smasher."

"You _were _the good Smasher. The title doesn't fit you anymore."

A giant fireball forms in Mario's palm. He shakes his head in disappointment and casts the fireball at us.

"Behind me!" I yell at Link. He has no option but to obey. I have a split-second to create the PSI Shield. There's still energy from the Needles' flowing within me, so the defensive PSI is several times more effective. It degrades but holds the attack.

I bring back my attention to see them coming. Bowser sliding across the ground with his claws, while Mario keeps up with a sprint.

From the corner of my eye, I notice Link also has his own pair of gauntlets. He puts on two golden ones with a red jewel in the center.

I wield the thunder sword two-handed, analyzing each of their moves; Link has his shield and sword in hand ready to be used. When they are close enough, Bowser jumps high in the air; he opens his mouth and releases a rain of fire upon us. Link instantly rolls out of the way. I need more time to react, almost getting burned. I move opposite to Link, and Mario is over me in the blink of an eye.

He throws a flurry of punches, all miss. I keep my distance swinging the sword madly. I take my time and dodge a punch, move to the left and step forward. I extend my right hand as much as possible. "PK Thunder!" The thunder roars, menacing to hit Mario. He is quick enough; he crouches and the thunder goes past him. He sweeps his leg under me, and I topple to the ground. At his mercy.

Something suddenly grasps me from the leg. I get dragged across a short distance. Still on the ground, I look back to see Link with the same artifact he once used against me in the city. I mutter thanks and warn him, "Bowser's coming!"

Mario comes next. He leaps forward, ready to hit me with a flying kick. I roll below him and swing the sword, but it only connects with his gauntlet. He shots a stream of fire that misses and before I can move he throws another punch. I jump back and concentrate my PSI in my right hand; it gets coated in a chunk of ice.

Full of rage I throw the punch aiming at his face. He catches my fist with his flaming hand. He applies pressure as the ice starts to defrost. A surprise attack from him is imminent. I pull back the sword and as I am about to lunge forward he grabs my other hand. In a matter of seconds, is obvious my strength is _nothing_ compared to his. My limbs start shaking, begging to stop the strain; my breathingaccelerates; and our eyes meet in a deadlock.

If I do nothing, he will overpower me and finish me here.

Wait, what did Ness tell me the PSI stones could help me do…? I don't have a PSI stone's energy but I have the Needles energy. I doubt I can use mind control on him, and telepathy won't help. Could… I use some kind of hallucination? Could I push his mind to trick hissenses?

I look right into his eyes. Two blue orbs that were now blinded by the hatred. I don't know how, but after looking at his eyes for a few seconds I passed to look through him. Through his eyes and into his head: his fears. I had never done something like this, but I don't need instructions. My instinct takes over telling me what to do.

I'm now Mario's eyes. What I want to see _will _be seen. He would never fight his brother. Let's see what he would in that case.

He's not fighting me anymore. Instead, he's pinning down his brother. He's fighting against Luigi, dead, but moving body. I can't see Mario's expression, but only imagine it after seeing the face of his brother. A pale gray. A ghost. Eyes? Probably none; only the empty, dark sockets were they once were. A wide-open mouth tries to scream for freedom, for life. He says something like, _Mario, let me go. I must be free. He, Lucas, didn't cause this… Neither you. But you are doing something. Halting the process of justice. Why you stop them? They want to get rid of the one who started this. You are just killing us all, brother._

The carcass that was once filled with a soul full of life now tries to wiggle its way out of Mario's grasp. Ghastly screams like those of a banshee are now a performing an orchestra inside Mario's head. Mario is no longer in the normal world, but in mine.

My head hurts and my eyes open heavily. The scarce light of the cave bothers my sight. I'm back. There's something else. The pressure from my arms is gone. Mario is on his knees. His mouth moves but no sound comes from it. His eyes are mostly closed but when he opens them, I notice they're not the same vivid blue, but a pale one.

"Mario… The power of this earth will take you away." I knee to touch the ground with both palms. My hands burn with PSI that probably comes directly from the great Dark Dragon. This moment is mine, and Mario's life in on my hands.

I begin lifting my hands from the ground. A white energy generates, filling the space between the ground and my palms. It's as bright as the sun, and it also gives off a warming sensation. It's love after all.

Just when I'm on my feet again, and my hands at chest height, the white, pure, PSI energy adopts a similar shape of floating blobs of plasma that connects to the ground; similar to a lava lamp.

The energy then gathers in my left hand. I breath in, a strange calmness comes to me. I exhale and I see Mario blinking a lot. His eyes change between the vivid blue and the pale one; he's snapping out of my hallucination.

I give a step forward, start walking, trot, and break into a run. The energy floats around my hand, ready to be set loose on the red demon that agonizes on his knees.

"Lucas!" My concentration is disrupted by Ness' yell. His voice breaks. What is it? I slow down and turn my head to the right.

The lion pokemon Luxray is charging at me at full speed. He growls as he runs. His eyes are as red as the blood that will spill from him or me in the next seconds. Three thunders come out from him and fly towards me. I raise my hand with the white energy; the thunders vanish instantly.

He roars and pounces with his sharp teeth bare. I have no option but to duck under him and reach out to strike him on the belly. "PK Love!" Luxray lets out a growl that distorts into a choking whimper. PK Love sends him flying, leaving a trail of blood and fur behind. He crashes with a wall far from here and explodes in a rain of small rocks. Luxray is obliterated; PK Love left no body.

I'm hypnotized by what PK Love did. It was powerful indeed.

Then I hear steps approaching me from the left.

"Where is my brother, you _monster!_" Mario screams charging at me with mad man eyes.

"You liked that?" I mock. He throws a desperate punch. I dodge and punch him in the face; he barely recoils and comes back at me.

Out from nowhere he hits me with a front kick. He is about to close the distance between us, but something farther in the battlefield distracts him. Ah, I get it.

Aggron throws himself forward to attempt a grab on Lucario. He doesn't seem to have witnessed Lucario's agility, though. Lucario sidesteps, goes around Aggron, steps on his tail and climb over him. Aggron goes mad lashing out blindly like an angry bull. Lucario, however, hangs on Aggron's head perfectly. The mad pokemon stands still for a second–enough for Lucario. Lucario raises his paws as a giant aura sphere appears. With a cry he brings down the aura sphere on top of Aggron's head, bringing the pokemon down. Like a tree, Aggron topples to the ground. Lucario lands gracefully.

Mario has moved away from our fight, and somehow Bowser escaped from Link to join Mario at a farther part of the battlefield.

"Any plan?" I hear Bowser ask.

"Yes, one." Mario searches in his pocket and takes out a black sphere. Before anyone can react he crushes the sphere against Bowser's chest.

"Subspace energy?" Ness asks with wide eyes.

"Where did he get it from?" Link says.

I didn't understand what Mario had done to Bowser, or what Subspace energy was until a few seconds passed.

Bowser let out a deafening roar. Signal something is happening inside him. Two streaks of black and purple energy spin around Bowser in a spiral shape. He lashes out blindly at the air and suddenly starts growing, and growing. He towers above us like a building ten times my size. His skin has turned a darker tone than it originally was; the spikes on his back have never looked as menacing, reaching the size of my entire body. The claws on his hands and feet look sharp enough to cut us in half without any difficulty. And his face: he wears a mad expression on it. His eyes are huge with an intimidating red pupil; the horns over his head have also suffered a huge increase in size. He can only remind me of the poor Dragos back home, but bigger, deadlier and apparently mad with the world.

There is not a single moment to plan a strategy; as soon as Bowser sees us he charges at us.

We all run in different directions facing Bowser from various angles.

The monster withdraws into his still broken shell and spins around letting loose a stream of fire that goes in every which direction. I can only shield with a quick PK Freeze that thaws just as the fire stops.

In the opposite side, Mario has surprised Link with a sudden attack. They are in a deadlock under the imposing shadow of Bowser.

"PK Flash!" Ness yells. The green sphere is directed towards Bowser and explodes square in his chest. Bowser backs down a little and is back in the fight instantly. He stomps the ground in Ness direction; and, as if Bowser could control PSI the earth drops and lifts again farther away almost hitting Ness.

_I think I can do something. You have to hold him, though. If Bowser stays still for a moment I can take out the dark aura that is within him. Good luck._

Of course, Lucario, easier said than done.

Link was still fighting Mario. I think Mario is applying more pressure on Link, but he still keeps his distance swinging his sword perfectly.

Bowser locks his gaze on me. With a roar, he brings down a giant foot barely in front of me. A hunch makes me put up a PSI Shield, and I'm glad for it, for once Bowser failed stomping me, he kicked forward. The shield breaks and sends me to the ground along with a shock in my spine.

Ready to cover me, Ness boosts himself skyward at Bowser's chest height. He raises his right hand and cries, "PK Rockin'!" A multicolored energy appears around his hand; he throws it forward and strikes Bowser in the chest. An explosion deafens me for a second, as Bowser's giant body falls backward. Once he hits the ground, a shock sends the ground rumbling. It's our opportunity.

I take another PSI stone and squeeze its power as I sprint towards Bowser. Ness does the same.

_Hold him down by the arms using PSI._

I know that Ness…

I shoot a yellow sphere from my hand. It connects with Bowser and several small sparks travel across his entire, massive body. That shall paralyze him momentarily. When that is done I plant my feet in front of Bowser's arm. I focus the power the PSI stone gave me on my hands. My target is set on Bowser, and then I bring down both arms as if I was pushing something downwards.

Bowser regained his strength.

A massive jerk almost throws me off my feet. It was Bowser trying to escape from us.

My arms, they feel like they are going to break. I have to lift my hands a bit when the pressure of Bowser almost crushes me.

Where the hell are you, Lucario?

He appeared leaping high in the air and landing on the monster's stomach. He put his paws in front of his body and aura start covering them. I can clearly feel the difference.

The aura grows as much as to nearly hide his upper body. And in a swift move, Lucario slaps Bowser with both palms. The aura in his hands explodes and then enters Bowser's body. Lucario groans as a purple and black aura is expelled from Bowser's body. The dark aura starts floating up like a cloud until Lucario acts like a magnet attracting the aura to him. This continues for a few seconds; Bowser roar, while Lucario groans through gritted teeth. Each moment the resisting strength from Bowser decreases.

Bowser starts reducing his size bit by bit.

Once his size is half the giant monster he was, he breaks free from our grasp; Lucario falls from Bowser as he withdraws into his shell.

From the corner of my eye, Link is rushing to our help.

Bowser begins to spin with a few embers around him that soon turn into a bigger tornado of fire. I lose sight of the others, so I turn around about to seek cover from Bowser. The tornado pulls me in, though; the flames embrace my body tightly; a quick PK Freeze protects my skin but the heat around me is torture. And when I think I'm done, the tornado flings me out of it and to the ground.

I cannot move. The pain is paralyzing. My limbs refuse to move. The only thing I see is the huge flame that is reaching the height of the former giant Bowser. I hope the others made it out.

"This ends here…"

I recognize that voice; an exhausted and desperate version of it.

Mario appeared, towering over my fallen being. His face is distorted by a deadly frown and an expression that reads blood-thirst. His eyes are lock on mine inspiring a paralyzing terror. There's not hat anymore over his head, but disheveled hair plastered over his forehead due to blood.

He pins me down placing himself over me, legs at each side of mine. One hand is supporting his body while the other menaces to punch me at anytime he wishes. "I'm tired of you. If it wasn't for you, Luigi, Marth and other brave fighters would be alive. If it wasn't for _you!_" He grabs me by the hair and slams my head on the floor.

"Thousands of innocents' blood is on your hands. Never, never someone from our organization had caused such annihilation. We never had an incident like this. Congratulations, hell-beast."

"You burden it all on me…" I say with difficulty. "I did commit the error of attracting Pokey here, but I _really_ want to stop him. To _kill_ him."

"Now you feel guilty 'cause of me?"

"I am guilty of too much, it's one of the things that keep me going; wanting to fix my errors."

He leans forward, his mouth adjacent to my ear; his warm breath enters my ear with a deadly whisper, "Your only error was to come here. You may have stood for what you believe, but I will kill you for what I once conceived and will never happen."

He lifts his hand as it lights up on flames.

I can't… I can't accept this… Who else will finish what I started. No, please…

"I've been waiting much more for this, Mario." Bowser's frame casts a shadow upon us; and his sharp claws shine as much as the fire on his eyes. Mario hesitates when he hears the hoarse voice from behind but he can't do more. Bowser pulls back his hand and, with the terrifying sound of cracking bones and flesh being pierced, he impales Mario through the chest.

The claws come out through the frontof Mario's chest, nearly grazing my nose. I stare with horror the incredible amount of blood that spills on my face and chest… Mario's eyes lose their light and the flames of his hand vanish with the wind. His face turns expressionless; no more hate, anger, revenge, only death. His body falls off me without any more motion.

Bowser's claws have adopted a crimson tone, as well as my shirt. He looks at me, his gaze still of a murderer. He opens his mouth, a bright red comes from within it. I am next.

I hear a cry and immediately after that, I'm dragged through the ground over a large distance. It was Ness using PSI. At the same time, Bowser releases a stream of fire at the place I was a moment ago.

Lucario and Link stand at my side.

Lucario helps me sit up and say, "Take these, they will make good." He puts two small things–probably berries–in front of my mouth. I eat them and feel the healing process starting inside me.

"He should've seen it comin'. I've wanted that bastard dead since long ago," Bowser says.

"Then why you tried to kill Lucas?" Ness asks; his will to keep his voice from breaking it's amazing, but there's still that sad tone that wants to come out.

"Because you have tried to do the same. Besides, he was the spark of this war, he deserves it." He looks down at Mario with anger. "I'll get what is mine." He grabs Mario's body, rummages for something inside one of the pockets and hurls the body off the cliff. I wonder if his body will ever find the bottom of the abysm.

"The Mushroom Kingdom? Peach?" Link asks us. "With our whole world at war no one will stop him."

Bowser shows us his palm; there's a small device on it.

"A teleporter," Lucario says.

"May the blood of innocents be with you, Lucas," Bowser says. He presses the teleporter.

"I won't let you go!" Ness steps forward. Multicolored PSI goes crazy all around his hand. "PK Rockin'!"

The light of the teleporter begins covering Bowser; PK Rockin' flies through the air and when it connects with its target, both, Bowser and PK Rockin' vanish as if nothing ever happened.

"Did it hit him?" Link asks.

"Of course it did," Ness responds.

There is a long moment of silence; a moment of peace after a seemingly-endless battle against two of the Smashers' heads. "That makes five perished Smashers we know of. I liked Mario at first," Lucario says, "It was your leader for a long time; my deepest condolences."

"We'll all miss him; at least the Mario we used to know. There's no excuse for what he did," Link says.

"I agree. He was a close friend, a mentor. Whatever Lucas did, it was no reason to act like this… And what about Bowser? Indeed, I probably... killed him, but he cracked funny jokesnonetheless… I just can't grasp the idea they are gone," Ness says. He lowers his head and hides his gaze behind his hand.

"I think we will always recognize the heroes they once were," I say. "But now," I struggle to stand up, "we have to end this and revert everything. Let's see what Porky's planet got for us."

* * *

><p><strong>I know the fight was long, but I think it was the right length since this issue was something Lucas had never coped with before. Also, I gotta say I had planned Mario's death for a long time now... Hope you liked this chapter.<strong>


	14. The Chimeras' Forsaken World

**Now with Mario and Bowser out of the way, Lucas teleports to Porky's planet in search for him.**

* * *

><p>I take a deep breath. With a hand over my chest I try to calm my heart rate; after travelling through Master Hand's portal my senses have to adapt again to the reality.<p>

The wind combs the land as far as I can see in never ending gray dunes. The air is thick and the sight empty of life. Out of context, I'm sure I would think I'm in the middle of a desert. I look up to see no more than the darkness of the space and the blinking stars. There's enough natural light to see, but no more than in a normal dusk. The temperature is starting to get cold, I notice, as I am embraced by a blizzard which causes me to shiver. It all makes me feel lost.

While I wait the wind makes of my hair a mess, my clothing is definitely not appropriated for this place, either. I wish I had more time to prepare; surely, the Smashers would have had a solution for this.

"Ready, Lucas?" With a hand on my shoulder, Link asks from behind me.

"Has Lucario found the city yet?" I ask him.

"Is not far from here. He saw several auras nearby."

"Must be chimeras."

"Surely."

I join the others. After analyzing the area one last time, Lucario opens his eyes. "We just have to follow the road. Once we sight the first houses there'll a couple of chimeras waiting."

We follow the road. It's long and the time passes. I want to press on but if this is really the home of the chimeras appearing in the Smashers' world I will need my strength. I glance to see my companions. Ness seems a bit nervous, but once I observe him with attention, I find determination in his eyes. He is angry; probably because of the events that took place earlier.

Then there's Link; he looks determined as well; although is difficult to read him, to understand what he is feeling right now. He's probably in the same situation as Ness is.

I can't look Lucario in the eyes–since he's the one leading us–but since I pulled the Needles earlier, I've been able to sense his aura. He is having a struggle between his usual calm mindset versus a pressing anger. There's not a bit of fear in him.

"Wait," Lucario says firmly. He raises a paw signaling us to halt. He crouches.

The wait makes me anxious. What is Lucario looking for that requires so much time? I can only see a few houses in the distance. I guess we are about to enter the boundaries of the city. A sudden gale makes me lose my footing and I trip, barely putting my hands between the solid pavement and my face. I shake off the dizziness that the dust caused when it slapped me in the face. On my knees, I raise my sight to see Ness and Link–who were in front of me–suddenly running to the side of the road with their heads low. What is going on?

Lucario is running back and looks surprised when he finds me on my knees. "Get up, get up!"

"Wha–"

_The chimeras, _Lucario answers my interrupted question.

Indeed, once Lucario and I get out of the road, the chimeras run in our direction and stop in the middle of the road. Lucario and I hide behind a dying tree at the right of the road. Ness and Link are in the opposite side, under the shadow of a rock.

Two chimeras, a rhinocerocket and a kangashark, sniff the air; they pace back and forthon the road, waiting for looks at me and says, _Ness and you will hold the chimeras down with PSI, and Link and I will take care. We can't afford to be seen and alert more chimeras._

Something suddenly connects with my mind. _Luke, when I finish, count to three and you take care of the kangaroo thing._ I have never been able to practice my telepathy, so I can only obey Ness.

One, two, three! I leap out of my hiding spot and aim at the kangashark with both hands. Once I feel I have my PSI field surrounding the chimera, I whip my arms downwards. The creatures twitches and is brought down, crashing violently on the road–which cracks with the impact. At the same time, the rhinocerocket freezes mid-air. Ness walks out of the shadows holding both arms steady like me.

The same mental struggle I once had begins when I see Lucario and Link ready to end the chimeras' lives. I look at their lost eyes. They are deadly, they are killing tons of people back in the Smashers' world; they are the same ones who… killed my mother and my brother, but they were once peaceful animals. They are as guilty as Claus for pulling the Needles under Porky's control. I want to speak up when Link unsheathes his sword. I don't want the chimeras to be killed so cold-heartedly. They are restrained; they can't do much like that. I have killed so many before than I can't understand why this happens every time–

I snap out of my thoughts when I feel the weight of the chimera released. "We put it to sleep," he says. "Literally."

The rhinocerockethits the ground asleep as well.

_Only this time, Lucas. We can't spare their lives if they are not going to spare ours._ Lucario glances at me.

"Were you reading my mind?" I whisper with a hint of disapproval. I don't like that.

"I could've. Your aura was enough to know what was bugging you."

Ness used his PSI to lift the chimeras and place them as far as possible.

We make a circle to discuss the next step. "The first buildings are very close. We have to sneak past one chimera before the first house, and then two chimeras to get to the next building."

Ness manages to use hypnosis to put the first chimera to sleep. We move silently to the back to the first house. There are two chimeras blocking our next objective. This time we can't put them down, so Link tells me an idea. I aim my energy at the door of a house parallelto us. I put little energy on the task, and the door slowly opens with a perfect, noisy creak.

The door attracted the attentions of the chimeras while we took advantage of this and continued.

By now I can see the city is actually very small. A mere town compared to the city of the Smashers. We have just entered the city, which Porky apparently worked hard to build perfectly. The place is a ghost town with air bringing and carrying huge amounts of dust; the windows, doors and some walls of the various buildings are ruined. The only noise around me is the whisper of the wind on my ears. We haven't bumped into any chimeras for the last five minutes (we easily evaded the last chimera sighted) since we are trying to travel through the darkest and quietest alleyways and buildings.

I look at my surroundings carefully for the thousandth time. I can't yet believe this is the home of the many chimeras I saw in the Smashers' city. There is not a single source of food for them. I shudder when I imagine how horrible is to have to resortto cannibalism or give up and starve–that's if you're not eaten before.

"Through here," Link says. In the darkness of the alley, he places his hand on the handle of a backdoor. He unsheathes his sword and silently counts to three. He pushes the door slightly. There's nothing inside, only dust and thrash greets us. Behind Lucario, I'm the last one to enter and make sure the door is locked, something that causes me a silence chuckle when I remember chimeras don't knock on the door.

There's no light, but I can see this is one of the few establishments in good condition in comparison to the others. I bump into something metallic, causing a series of clanks.

"Wow, Luke, don't you want to personally tell the chimeras we're here?" I disregard Ness' comment and continue looking around during this break.

"Where are we?" he asks.

A light source comes out of the center of the building. Somehow Link was placing a bottle with a burning flame inside. The fire was bright enough to dimly light the whole place. It was not a house, that's for sure. Where I was standing looked more like a kitchen–a big kitchen that could only work with several persons. And what I had bumped into was apan. In the center were several tools for cooking as well as enough space for chefs to work on. Next to the wall were several ovens and whatever tools used to cook and countertops where non-existent silverware and ingredients for a variety of dishes should be. Where Link placed the bottled flame is the countertop that separates the kitchen with the other room where Ness is.

I enter the next room that has several tables and chairs, pictures on the wall and the menu above the counter. This is a restaurant.

"What in the hell…?" Ness whispers to himself.

I walk out of the kitchen to join him. He looks around with widened eyes, pointing at every object in the room. "This is–this…"

The way he stammers tells me something is wrong. He keeps pointing at the tables and chairs. He suddenly darts up to the opposite side of the room and stands in front of a wall. He mumbles something as he stares, mouth agape, at a frame with a glass protecting the object in the inside: a striped white and black shirt signed at the bottom-right corner.

He spins around, almost bumping with me, and whispers, "The soda machine…"

"This is the pizzeria in Onett…" he says.

"Onett?" I ask him.

"Onett! The town I come from! Porky recreated it! That damn psycho…" He runs over to the front windows.

At the same time, Lucario vaults over the center countertop and tells us with a worried tone, "Chimeras have surrounded the building…" he pauses and shouts in consternation, "Ness, what are you doing!"

Ness is looking through the big front windows of the establishment. His face was up against the glass and his hands supported on it.

Lucario says something and snapped his head back –his eyes closed and the protuberances in the back of his head hovering–at Ness. A chimera pounces on the reinforced window. The assault leaves a huge crack like the roots of a tree and extends across the window. Then a roar comes from the depthsof the chimera's snout; its long, bare teeth are tainted with blood–probably not its 's furious because the glass will keep it away from us. Its only source of food.

A normal and a green, enhanced and artificial, eye are locked on Ness with an expression that shows the desperation for food of the hungry chimera. A mane of sharp, little blades circle its head; and its body and tail, pure metal, are the result of a wicked experiment that maddens its victim. A mecha-lion.

Ness screams in terror and as he tries to back up, he trips. He scrambles away. "Holy..."

Link is about to help Ness, when the chimera rams into the glass again. Time slows down. The bewildering sound of glass breaking fills the room. Bits of glass fly about the restaurant. The chimera begins to go through the windowless frame but in the blink of an eye the window repairs midair and smacks the chimera's head. The mecha-lion is thrown out of the restaurant just in time, its body slides on the sandy street.

On his knees with both arms stretched out, Ness points at the window. I'm taken aback when I find a new ability on me, for I can clearly see Ness' aura extending through his arms and connecting with the now-repaired window.

Following Ness' feat,Lucario says in a hurry, "The chimeras are approaching the backdoor!"

"Hold it, Luke," Ness instructs me.

I run off and fling openthe door to the back of the restaurant. I surround the long countertop in the middle of the kitchen and almost trip with something on the floor.

_Hurry, _Lucario yells in my mind, _they are outside._

I don't have time to prepare or ponder the amount of energy I should put in my next action. I just step forward, planting my foot firmly on the ground, and thrust my hand forward in the direction of the backdoor. As the PSI wraps the door, something slams it from the outside and a clank resonates in the kitchen. I recoil, receiving the whole hit through my PSI, and almost cancel the PSI holding the door.

"It's only a matter of time before these things think and demolish a wall," Link says, his voice rises; nobody cares for the chimeras overhearing us anymore.

Lucario and Link exchange ideas yelling in an attempt to listen to each other over the wreckthe chimeras arecausing.

Without dropping the PSI shield, I twist my neck to look back, at Ness.

He, too, looks back with tired eyes, "Gu–guys, I can't hold it much mo–" Ness is cut mid-sentence by a fireball bursting on the glass. The glass turns a bright red and slowly dissipates. When the vision clears, the attacker stands in front of the glass; a reconstructed lion. It stands over a mass of mechanical tentacles that connect directly to its disembodied head–the only thing that's still normal on it.

The chimera looks at us attentively; it sways its tentaclesback and forth a couple of times before releasing a flurry of attacks, whipping its tentacles repeatedly on the glass, making Ness flinch on every hit.

Lucario yells at me, "Lucas, that wall!" he points at the wall to my right. He doesn't even bother to tell what to do. I know my duty.

I twist my body slightly to the right and point my palm to the instructed wall. The PSI soon reinforces it. However, an overwhelming pain begins in my left hand–which I'm using to hold the door. I stay in the same position ignoring the pain and the sweat dripping from my eyebrows. It feels like my body is being emptied as a burning sensation from the inside makes me tremble.

Link groans, "We will have to get out through the roof. Get ready, you two," he addresses Ness and I. "As soon as you see the roof coming down, follow us; those chimeras will be all over us in an instant."

Ness just groans in acknowledgement. I understand him, there's not enough energy on our bodies to do anything else than focus the PSI–and we're about to fail on that, too.

"Now!" Link shouted.

I drop both shields and run for my life. I jump over the countertop in the center and destroy the kitchen door with PSI since it seemed to be stuck.

Lucario lets out a cry and throws an aura sphere at the roof. "Let's go," he says and exits through the roof with a single leap.

Link waits for me to exit but I notice Ness doing another of his reckless feats. He holds the shield on the front window for a few more precious seconds. I gasp when I see his body refuse to continue the action. Ness drops the shield unleashing hell behind him. He limps for a moment before collapsing to the floor. Lucario observes the scene and instantly comes back down. "I'll cover you here, hurry." At the same time the back door explodes. It ricochets about the kitchen and a flood of chimeras attacking one another come inthrough the kitchen.

I glance over at Link in desperation. He extends his closed fist toward Ness and opens his hand letting free a small ball of light with wings. The winged creature flutters above Ness' body.

I turn my attention back to the incoming chimeras. The two front windows are down, the door is destroyed and the wall I was shielding is about to collapse. I can't do more than release an inferno upon the chimeras closing inand hope we can get out of here soon. "PK Fire!" With both hands a wave of omega fire consumes the monsters into a painful death.

The roars and screeches of the chimeras were deafening. After a few seconds, my ears only registered a long ping. My vision turns blurry but I continue. Subconsciously, my newfound ability awakes, and I can see aura of the world around me. PK Fire dies down and I see several blue shapes at the other side several meters away. Somehow I sense Ness moving again. Lucario puts down last chimera before turning around to leave through the roof.

I "feel" a chimera approaching from my right. I get a glimpse of it and predict it's going to pounce on me. I roll to the left before the chimera has a chance to move. I search for the last drops of energy on me and paralyze the chimera. I use this few seconds to make my way out. Trying to get under the hole on the roof, I stumble and almost trip. I shake my head to clear the dizziness. I try to boost myself upwards but nothing happens. Again my aura awakens and warns me a mob of chimeras are coming in through the main entrance and the back door and that another chimera is about to demolish the wall.

Something gets a grasp on my waist. I desperately flail my arms in a failed attempt to free myself of whatever has taken me. I am very weak, however; the only thing that makes me keep going is the mere instinct of survival; the same that has consumed the last drop of energy in me.

Until I look up and see Link with his claw device lifting me out of the restaurant through the hole in the roof. I'm safe for now.

Link looses the grasp and lets me drop on the roof. I lay, totally oblivious of the wreck going on around us. "Bud," Ness' face appears in front of me. "Come on." I put my nearly-limp arm around his neck and, with Link helping as well, Ness helps me stand up.

I look around. I don't know if it's my mind playing me tricks or the dizziness itself, but if not, a horde of chimeras fighting and eating each other and trying to catch us has gathered around the restaurant. Screeches, roars and cries filled the air. The once quiet atmosphere turned into a battlefield in the middle of a ruined city where sand blew in the red-tainted streets. The buildings around us are in ruins as well. Dead chimeras litter said buildings while countless fights are happening.

Far away, in the heart of the city a building towered over the others. The town hall. It was big and though it looked decayed, I can notice it once was wholly white. The portico was supported by four pillars, three of which had been demolished and the roof barely holds in a tilted angle. There are no more than a few chimeras around the town hall. We could hide there.

In the few minutes we have until the chimeras destroy the restaurant, Link and the others discuss where to go, and more important, how.

"We can't get down from here unless we jump on that roof and from there…" Lucario started but Link shook his head.

"Lucas won't be able to jump that far," Link massages his browin stress. "Besides, from there the streets are filled with chimeras. Once we get there, there won't be another way out…"

What if… "Can we teleport out of here? Th–that building, the town hall, looks like a good place to hide…" I speak up and point at said place, fighting off the urge to close my eyes. "Can you do it, Ness?"

Ness, who's keeping me from collapsing, looks at me, thoughtfully. He knows our time is ticking and we don't have more than a few minutes to escape from here. Still, a few minutes ago he had collapsed of fatigue. Probably it's careless of me to have suggested such a thing. And as Ness thinks, Link just stands there, waiting for the answer. Maybe he, too, thinks this was a suggestion over the top, but he hasn't said a thing.

"Yeah, I can do it," he says with determination and nodding his head. Though I see this as no more than a tactic to convince himself he can do it since he's obviously not in the best shape and he's aware of that.

"Then, let's get out of here," Link cries as if to boost the morale.

Lucario approaches us to make a line to teleport. He glances over at Ness giving him a questioning look.

"Are you sure you can do it?" I ask him looking directly at his eyes and not planning to break our gaze until he responds. Yeah… it was ridiculous to ask him to do that. He's a proud person, he would never say no to something.

"To be honest, I don't even know," he pauses and continues when he notices my surprise, "But if I don't, not only mine, but our lives will be endangered." He concludes with a reassuring, but forced, smile.

I had never heard Ness say something like that. Probably because he doesn't need to and, instead, he acts. He's always put his duty above his own life… The images of our fight in the city flash in my eyes. The time when I carelessly struck him with PK Love and, again demonstrating his not so healthy obsession with the protection of others, he took the hit for the people in that building. I think I never said sorry to him for that.

"Lucas, come with me," Lucario calls me. "You're going to take my hand through the teleportation."

We are ready. Link is holding Lucario's paw, and he holds my hand. Ness is the only one left. However, he seems in need to say something beforehand. "Does anyone of you have an open wound? Teleporting with that is highly dangerous… as you may know because of what happened to Lucas' arm."

Link and Lucario stay silent. I know I'm pretty good. We spent some time to heal any wound from the fight with Mario and Bowser before coming here. Besides thefatigue, I'm pretty much fine.

While I wait for Ness to pursue, I look down and spot something–something bad. The arm with which Lucario is holding onto me has an enormous gash and two deep wounds as if something bit him. I gape at this. Isn't he going to say something? Well, I will then.

I'm about to speak up when a voice penetrates my mind. _You don't dare say something, Lucas. I am fine, thanks._

"But Lucario–" I try to whisper.

_Shut up, Lucas, we need to get out of here._

"Alright," Ness takes Link's hand. "In anyway, the trek is short so hopefully there won't be side effects…" he sighed. "And be ready. I'm not feeling great, don't expect a perfect landing."

Ness… Why did you accept to teleport us there?

I thank Lucario is the one holding my hand. He is strong and I will have to leave all the work to him. My legs barely respond and I can barely keep the grasp on his paw. I trust him, nonetheless.

Ness starts walking slowly, which then turns into a jog. When we pick up speed, I'm yanked and almost lose Lucario's grasp. We run through the last meters of the roof and suddenly rocket through the remaining part. I yelp when there's not anymore roof below our feet and we take off into the swirling black and blue portal.

Barely a few seconds inside the alternate dimension, I feel Lucario's grip tense on my hand. _I see now why teleporting is highly dangerous… and painful, _he speaks in my mind with a faint tone of humor. I don't find it funnythough. _Do not worry, I will not let go of you._

_I'm not worried about me, but about you! I don't want you to end up hurt. _Somehow, inside me, I found the ability to respond back to Lucario.

But I don't hear his respond, for a second later we exit the portal.

I touch normal ground again. We are inside the town hall skidding, slowly speeding down.

"Link! Ness!" Lucario suddenly yells. I panic and see why Lucario screamed out of the blue. A cattlesnake is charging toward us. Its massive body is at least three times my height and its long legs will surely crush us with no difficulty. It threatens to strike Link and Lucario. Each time its feet connect with the floor, a loud thump resonates matching an orchestra of drums.

I'm powerless and useless in this situation. I can only witness with wide eyes at what is probably going to be a massacre. I can't do a thing. My hand is trapped between Lucario's fingers and any PSI I could have done, has already been used on the restaurant. The muscles on my back tense and I tremble in terror. I try to stop our momentum with my feet but it's done in vain.

"No!" I scream instinctively. The massive cattlesnake is about to ram into us; Link hasn't done more than look back and attempt to change our trajectory. Nothing works; the velocity we are carrying from the teleportation is too much to be stopped manually… The chimera is the only thing that can stop us.

Lucario groans in effort. He palms Link in the back and his aura sends Link and Ness flying through the hall, away from the chimera's path. Link and Ness can only screech in surprise just as they crash with a wall.

Lucario saved them… And what about us?

I hear a swoosh of air around us. Lucario is doing something! A force field–which I can see with my aura vision–made out of aura appears suddenly. It surrounds us entirely. This won't hold the chimera, Lucario! I scream in my head; I'm too paralyzed to say a word.

The chimera rams into Lucario's force field.

I close my eyes tightly. I can't witness this. The cattlesnake's body almost over us is a nightmare turned real. The force field receives the whole power of the impact. But it's not acting like a shield. The force field is not stopping the chimera from hitting us. Instead, it works like a bubble. As the chimera hits us, I let go of Lucario and bounce inside the bubble. My eyes open only registering a blur of colors. Gray, black, blue, white, red. I bounce up and down, crashing with Lucario several times. It feels ten times worse than the time I was in a train crash. I don't have _any _control over my actions. My arms and legs are commanded by the momentum we got from the chimera's attack. I bump into Lucario again; this time I decide to hold onto him, embracing him in an uncomfortable position. I have my legs flexed all the way to my chest and I twist my body to put my arms around him; I embrace him with the right side of my torso touching his chest… Something impales me in my ribs. Pain erupts in my body and burns in my ribs. I let out a scream that echoes around the force field.

_Lucas!_ I barely register Lucario's mental message.

Still bouncing around, I manage to get a look at Lucario's chest. His spike…! I bark inside my head. Once shiny metal, the spike on his chest is now tainted with my blood.

_Brace yourself! _He warns me. Now what?

All momentum stops suddenly. I hit my back with the force field, my breath is stolen. The force field crashes with a wall and bursts into an explosion of aura.

We go through the wall and land rolling uncontrollably on the street. Our momentum carries on and we crash into the wall of a house. At the last moment, I feel Lucario's aura destroying the wall to prevent further harm.

I roll one more time and stop sprawled out on the floor of the house.

_Lucas… Lucas, get up! _Lucario's voice is weak but clear.

I lift my head from the floor, my arms and legs still not responding. My sight stays blurry and for a moment everything is spinning and has no sense. I hallucinate the chirp of a playful bird.

I recover and blink several times to confirm if what I am looking at is real. A giant pink face with bright yellow eyes glowers down at me.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh yeah, that pink face belongs exactly to who you are thinking. That's if you have an idea of who is it... but you will know either way in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!<strong>


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